Grand Performances opened its 2026 season on 13 June with Ozomatli, the Latin hip-hop funk band, at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. The series has put on free outdoor shows since 1987, and 2026 was its 40th edition.
Opening night carried more than the headliner. The tropicalia group Healing Gems and the Afro-Latin fusion band Jungle Fire both appeared, with DJ Liza Richardson between sets. "For 40 years, Grand Performances has been a gathering place where Los Angeles comes alive," said president and chief executive Rafael Gonzalez.
Culture Clash returned on 27 June with its political and social satire. The Chicano troupe, formed in San Francisco's Mission District in 1984, is Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza. Sharing that bill were E Arenas, the Chicano Batman bassist, in his retro cumbia-quebradita mode, the luchador-masked group La Nueva Ola de Cumbia and DJ Dali.
Three nights were built around tributes. DJ Spinna ran an intergenerational dance party on 18 July in honour of Stevie Wonder, who played the series in 2013 alongside Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia. A 12-piece jazz ensemble gathered on 1 August for the late vibraphonist Roy Ayers. On 22 August, Ritchie Valens got a programme of live music, narration and archival visuals, with Nick Waterhouse, Shannon Shaw of Shannon & the Clams, Joey Quinones of Thee Sinseers, Bryan Ponce of the Altons, Denise Carlos and Hector Flores of Las Cafeteras, Angie Monroy and Irene Diaz.
The season closed on 29 August with Son Rompe Pera, the cumbia punk group from Mexico City, joined by the all-femme percussion ensemble Bloco Obini and the violinist Quetzal Guerrero, who records as QVLN.
Grand Performances splits its billing between global and local acts, and previous headliners include iLe, Adrian Quesada and Ana Tijoux. Other Los Angeles bills we are following sit in the festival tracker, among them the Boyle Heights Youth Fest and BelicoFest at BMO Stadium, alongside our latin coverage.
The facts
- Grand Performances has staged free outdoor shows since 1987
- The 2026 season, its 40th, opened on 13 June with Ozomatli
- Healing Gems and Jungle Fire also played opening night
- Culture Clash returned on 27 June
- Tribute nights honoured Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers and Ritchie Valens
- Son Rompe Pera closed the season on 29 August
- The series runs at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles
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