Cosquín Rock is an Argentine music festival, held annually since 2001. It is currently held in Santa María de Punilla, Córdoba. In Argentina, it takes place in February during the summer, and it is one of the most popular music festivals in the country. Many important national rock singers and groups participate in the festival, along with some of the most important international rock bands, mostly from Spanish-speaking countries like Spain, Mexico, and Uruguay. In the beginning, it was focused only on national rock bands. However, throughout the years, the festival has also included bands from different places and of different genres, such as reggae, rap, cumbia, and cuarteto, among others.

History

The people behind the idea were José Palazzo, Constantino Carrara, and Héctor Emaides. Two local bands “Divididos” and “Los Piojos” contributed to consolidate the project. Finally, on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th, February 2001 the first edition of the festival was held with the participation of more than 14 rock bands. The duration of the festival has changed throughout the years since the first edition only lasted for two nights. It then became progressively longer, since the second edition lasted for three nights, and the third and fourth lasted for four nights. In the 5th and 6th editions, the festival lasted for five nights. Then, in 2007, it was shortened to three nights, and from 2018 onwards it was shortened again to two nights. Initially, the festival was held in Plaza Próspero Molina in Cosquín, Córdoba until 2004. Later, due to economic reasons, and the abandonment of the project by Emaides, it was moved to Comuna San Roque, Córdoba in 2005. In 2011, due to the increased number of attendees, the festival was moved to Santa Maria de Punilla, which remains the current location. It was during the 2004 edition that international bands were incorporated into the festival, with the Mexican band Molotov being the first one. In the next year's edition, two alternative stages were incorporated, which would start a tradition of having various stages in the festival. In this same edition, new genres were featured, such as reggae, heavy metal, blues, and punk. In 2020, the genres of pop, rap and trap were also added. In the 2012 edition, non-music-related activities started to be carried out in the festival. Some of these activities included movies, art exhibitions and gastronomic proposals, among others. In 2023, it had its attendance record, achieving 200,000 attendants between the two days. Currently, the festival is expanding throughout different parts of the world, and in 2025 it will celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Expansion

Editions in South America

In 2017, the first Cosquín Rock México was held in February. It included guest bands from Argentina and Mexico such as Caifanes, Café Tacvba and Panteón Rococó, among others. In October, Cosquín Rock Perú and Cosquín Rock Colombia took place in Lima and Bogotá, respectively. In November, the first Cosquín Rock Bolivia was celebrated in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In 2018, there was a second edition in México in July. In October, Cosquín Rock Chile took place in Santiago de Chile and Cosquín Rock Uruguay in the city of Canelones for the first time. In November, there was the first edition of Cosquín Rock Paraguay in Asunción, Paraná. In 2024, the fourth edition of Cosquín Rock in Uruguay was held on April 20 and 21 in the Rural del Prado with a set of twin stages, “Antel” and a “Suzuki”. More than 64 local and international bands played, with La Mona Gimenez, an Argentinian singer of the popular genre cuarteto, being the big star of this edition.

International Editions

In 2019, the first edition of Cosquín Rock in Queens, New York was held, and soon after the pandemic in 2021 the second edition was held in Island Gardens, Miami, where more than 4000 people attended. The Puerto Rican band Cultura Profética, the Venezuelan group Los Amigos Invisibles, two Argentinian singers, Louta and Mía Zeta, and the rock-pop band Literal were among the artists that performed in the Miami edition. Even though there were some previous attempts to carry out the festival in Spain in 2019, the first successful edition of Cosquín Rock in Spain was in 2021 in Fuengirola, Spain. There was another on September 28, 2024 in Valladolid, Spain. Some of the invited artists for this 2024 edition were Steve Aoki, Arde Bogotá, Crystal Fighters, Hombres G, Gipsy Kings, Arizona Baby, and Ciro y los Persas, among others.

Line up