South of Mexico City lies a very special place: the Tlahuac municipality. It was here that, thirteen years ago, a group of friends started what would become Taurina Fest, a space on the outskirts of the city for independent bands.
Tito Silva, Rodolfo Rosas, Juan Piñeiro and Abraham Gabriel are the founders of this collective that realized the need for young people in Tlahuac to have their own space that was not dozens of kilometers from their homes.
The 2026 edition of Taurina Fest, held on June 6, brought together bands from all over the City in a declaration of strong self-management and with the conviction that talent can be found in every corner of the city.
With eleven guest bands, the festival had not a moment of silence and from six in the afternoon, the Xaltepec volcano shook to its foundations with the fury of the guest bands that included cries of criticism against the economic conditions in which the youth of Mexico face life, to the injustices in the world.
Weyes, Lowent, Perra Brava, TristeFeliz, Cortelui, El desierto, Manhattan, Grito exclamacion and Laxantes were the bands that, oscillating between rock and punk, called on the spectators to stoke the fire of independent music.
As night fell, the legendary Jessy Bulbo also made an appearance, delighting an intergenerational audience. From those who had listened to her since the last millennium to those who had just discovered her, everyone jumped to the rhythm of her most famous songs.
To crown the night, Taurina, the band made up of festival organizers and the reason for the event’s peculiar name, made an appearance with their alternative rock that reminded those present how it all began.
The live music show concluded with the band Laxantes, accompanied by a traditional fireworks display originating from the town of Santiago Zapotitlan. This spectacle, known as the “burning of the little bull (torito),” poetically closed the show, alluding to the band’s name, Taurina, and paying homage to the roots of one of Tlahuac’s native communities.
The effort of the Taurina Fest team deserves recognition, not only for offering such a high-quality event in the land that was once chinampa, but also for the initiative to bring together independent bands to demonstrate that not everything happens in the center of Mexico City.
