Baja music fest grows chefs

All My Friends music festival started as a house party in Tijuana five years ago and has been broadening its scope and attendance annually ever since. This year, they’re shifting from an autumn to a summer occasion, relocating to beachfront Rosarito, and expanding their focus to highlight Baja’s flourishing culinary scene.

“We’ve been working on moving the festival to the beach since 2012,” says organizer Argenis Garcia. “It was an idea we kept on the back burner because it was impossible to find the proper venue, until now.”

Newly backed by Monterrey music movers NRMAL, the three-day festival (June 13–15) will be held at the cliffside resort of Castillos del Mar. By scaling back their music lineup (compare this year’s 19 artists to last year’s 30 or so), the festival has made room for Cocina Central, a showcase of regional chefs Alberto Cansino (Baja Craft Beers), Jorge L. García (Puerco & Pintas), Martín Vargas (Verde y Crema), Paty Estrada (Urbano Gastro Bar), Mario Peralta (Clan D & Fuego), and Humberto Avilés (La Caza Club), who will be put to real-time collaborative challenges that the crowd can enjoy in tastings between bands.

This year, they’ll also be widening their international reach to include musical guests from Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, and Spain, in addition to Mexico City, Baja, and SoCal acts.

“Gonjasufi is from San Diego, Bleached is from L.A., and Point Loma [of Nortec Collective] is from Tijuana,” Garcia says. “That is what we see as local — a whole region from L.A. to Tijuana where it is possible to share this spectrum of music. That has always been one of the main purposes of AMF.”

While the lineup also sports local pleasers such as Sonidero Travesura, Warm Places, Illuminauts, Ghost Magnet Roach Motel, Santos, Late Nite Howl, and a special Batwings vs. Skrapez set, one of the most intriguing new additions is El Music Makers Hack Lab Tijuana. Hosted by Michael Trigilio, aka starvelab (SD), and Leslie García, aka lessnullvoid (Tijuana), the lab features daily hands-on experimental analog and digital electronic workshops for all experience levels.

Festival tickets are 150 pesos ($12 USD) presale, or 250 ($20) at the door. Turista Libre offers a round-trip border shuttle for $30.