DeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS<\/em>. But whether this is the best way to take proper advantage of the moment is still a\u00a0 debate. Federico Fern\u00e1ndez, an event promoter and curator who cut his teeth in Miami before moving back to Puerto Rico and starting the \u201cIsla del Terror\u201d party series, worries people are taking the wrong message from the album and residency.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cLive music has always had an important role in the Puerto Rican music scene,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople like to see people play music, be it bomba, salsa, reggaet\u00f3n, rock, electronic music. [We\u2019re] just really into seeing somebody perform.\u201d His concern is that bigger events targeted at tourists could betray the idea behind Benito\u2019s album, or that they might hurt or hamper the local culture that the superstar hopes to highlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tA new ordinance enacted in late-2023 by San Juan\u2019s mayor declared that the vast majority of venues in the city must stop selling alcoholic beverages at 2 a.m. \u2014 effectively forcing them to close at that time. It struck a blow to one of the hottest nightlife scenes in the Caribbean. As Fern\u00e1ndez tells it, efforts to work through it ended up coming up short. \u201cThe people, these promoters and organizers, they\u2019re realizing that they\u2019re in [denial] that everything sucked and the whole situation sucked, the curfew sucked and there\u2019s nothing fun to do anymore. And they\u2019re actively trying to change that, [and] I think the effort definitely this year is \u2018experiences\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut the emphasis on the bigger brand-friendly experiences, which benefit from larger budgets, dwarf some of the more authentic experiences that Benito has shared with fans. He\u2019s made it a point to highlight things like playing dominoes with locals on a random street corner, unannounced and chill. Even the album\u2019s now-iconic cover art featuring Monobloc chairs on a simple field where two people can just shoot the shit with a beer while listening to Ismael Rivera or DJ Blass classics (depending on their mood.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a sentiment shared by \u201cholistic curator\u201d Miosoti Alvarado-Burgos, founder of the cultural event aggregator \u00a1DimeloMio! which emphasizes local live music, galleries, workshops, and more outside of the tourist zones. \u201cThere has been a movement to make more experiences and live music events celebrating our culture, but I\u2019ve seen it move very slowly,\u201d she says, offering that she feels the residency\u2019s announcement and implications took many by surprise. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough; the events that are going to be happening are too generic. For example, most are just emphasizing salsa, bomba, and plena but without truly studying what else they can offer to surprise people.\u201d She thinks the events could also highlight newer talents within those genres.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been complicated because we offer more, because we know what\u2019s up, and it\u2019s hard for people here to believe that [visitors] would be genuinely interested in the music made here. We can offer such good rock, rap, hip-hop, electronic music, obviously good salsa, plena, also metal and punk,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat points to what is ultimately Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s advice to those who visit Puerto Rico from now until September (or beyond): \u201cIt might be a better idea to just go and do your own thing, because you can go to a rave and you can see this and you can see that, but most of the cool stuff is super underground,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile dozens of events have been earnestly curated to benefit visitors and local community, the signs exist that the tourism industrial complex might have hobbled their growth.<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\t\u201cIf you\u2019re trying to go out and do the Bad Bunny Experience\u2122 it\u2019s gonna hinder your trip,\u201d says Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cYou don\u2019t really understand the album if you\u2019re just looking for the Bad Bunny Experience\u2122 because Bad Bunny\u2019s not selling you the Bad Bunny Experience\u2122. He\u2019s telling you his experience as an individual, and he\u2019s trying his best to do it in the most authentic way possible. It makes way more sense to be hanging out at these [other] places which have way more influence than for you to come from the outside and try to colonize the experience,\u201c even inadvertently. As he bluntly puts it: \u201cI don\u2019t even think Bad Bunny would want<\/em> you to go to his official afterparties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tThree months is a long time, and may be enough to course correct as the shows go on,\u00a0 especially as word of mouth begins to spread after the first few weekends. While hundreds will undoubtedly leave Puerto Rico with a newfound appreciation of the breadth of its music and footprint, people like Cordero want to make sure the success of the residency is sustainable for years to come. He says he\u2019s thinking about the situation like this: \u201c\u201dHow do we seize this moment for what\u2019s really happening in Puerto Rico, for the cultural movements and the social justice movements? [How do we make sure] that people are not just coming for the concert and that\u2019s it, but that there\u2019s some type of education happening that highlights what\u2019s going down locally and how to connect and plug into that?\u201d For now, the opportunity is giving locals a lot to consider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n