Avándaro

Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro

Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro (also known as Festival de Avándaro) was a rock music concert that happened on Saturday, September 11, 1971 and became recognized as a major milestone Mexican rock music history. Some people refer to the festival as the "Mexican Woodstock". At this concert, several major rock groups performed in front of an audience of more than 200,000 people at an outdoor festival. The event was originally named Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro (Festival of Rock and Wheels) because the event was supposed to be a sponsored automobile race with rock bands. Somebody told car racer Eduardo Lopez Negrete to include ambient music, and the organizers consulted Armando Molina for further advice. Molina suggested including twelve bands and helped organize the event.

The concert location was in the Valle de Bravo, a lakeside resort in Avándaro, near the city of Toluca, Estado de Mexico, approximately two-hours from Mexico City. This concert peacefully brought together thousands of young people to share and enjoy the music. All of this was in the aftermath of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre, and the Festival was under threat of government repression. At the end of the epic festival, the Mexican government helped evacuate stranded concert goers. As a result of the concert, rock music was suppressed for several decades in Mexico. Some of the festival events were filmed but unfortunately but the film remains missing.

Concert Performers

• Los Dug Dugs
• Zafiro
• Soul Masters
• Sociedad Anónima
• La Ley de Heródes
• Fachada de Piedra
• Los Tequila
• Micky salas y Maricela
• El Epilogo
• La División del Norte
• Peace and Love
• El Ritual
• Bandido
• Three Souls in my Mind
• Mayita Campos y los Yaki
• Tinta Blanca
• El Amor
• Enigma