Mexico’s own Santana, chart-topping Banda MS, and Grammy winner Lila Downs headline Jazz Fest’s tribute to Mexico in 2025, joined by nineteen bands from Mexico and the United States presenting a rich musical landscape that transcends borders. Hailing from various regions of Mexico, Son de Madera brings their string-driven Son Jarocho sound from Veracruz, Las Hermanas García and Mixanteña de Santa Cecilia draw from the rich musical traditions of Guerrero and the Afro-Mexican rhythms of Mexico’s Pacific coast, Pasatono Orquesta reinvents the sound of the Mixtec village bands of Oaxaca, and Marimba Nandayapa showcases the traditional marimba music of the southern state of Chiapas. From Guadalajara, the traditional Mariachi band Son del Coamil contrasts with the horn-driven Mariachi Los Camperos from Los Angeles. Festival favorite Son Rompe Pera returns from Mexico City with their trademark cumbia with a punk attitude, while the Mexican Institute of Sound illustrates the Mexican electronica movement. U.S.-based bands drawing from their Mexican roots include L.A.’s La Santa Cecilia and El Conjunto Nueva Ola, Texas’ Alejandro Escovedo, Los Texmaniacs, La Insistencia Norteña, and “El Dusty.”