San Juan.- Thousands of salsa enthusiasts from Latin America celebrated National Salsa Day 2025 this Sunday in Puerto Rico, dedicated to the legendary singer Ismael Rivera on his birthday, and whose nephew, Moncho Rivera, was one of those honored along with the Colombian Willy García and the Puerto Rican Papo Cocote.
With flags from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, fans of the renowned Caribbean rhythm packed the Plaza de la Independencia in San Juan, a space located between the Hiram Bithorn stadium, where the musical event usually takes place, and the Roberto Clemente Coliseum.
Cocote was the first to take the stage, where he performed several of his well-known songs, to warm up the atmosphere, before giving way to the Libre X Presión orchestra, directed by Carlos Ayala, from the Ayala family, one of the best known in the local area, especially interpreting the Puerto Rican bomba.
After the presentation of Libre X Presión, it was El Propio’s turn to sing ‘Uju Ajá’, one of his songs that has received the most support in this last year, in which he has entered salsa as a soloist with the White Lion record label, and which he even sang twice on the day of this Sunday.
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El Propio, formerly known as Myzta, recorded the album ‘Más salsa que tú’, which fuses salsa with urban music, in collaboration with the Puerto Rican musician Pirulo and the Cuban El Mola.
After the act of El Propio, it was the turn for the National Day Orchestra, conducted by veteran pianist Isidro Infante, and to which Rico Walker, the Peruvian Yahaira Plasencia, Luisito Carrión, Willie González, the Canary Iván Cacú and the Colombian Willy García, although with his group, joined to sing.
Cacú and García made history by becoming the first solo artists from the Canary Islands and Colombia, respectively, to sing at the traditional celebration.
García, for his part, was also honored in the musical show, a distinction he thanked in an event as representative as the National Salsa Day in Puerto Rico, where he highlighted renowned Puerto Rican salsa artists such as Ismael Rivera, Héctor Lavoe, Frankie Ruiz, Cheo Feliciano, Gilberto Santa Rosa and El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.
After García’s performance, it was the turn of Willie Rosario’s orchestra, known as ‘Mr. Afinque’, who, at 101 years old, is still able to stand and play the timbales, as he has done for more than sixty years of his salsa career.
After Rosario’s presentation, Moncho Rivera appeared on stage to perform several songs left by his uncle, Ismael Rivera (1931-1987), in his legacy and possibly chosen by many ‘cocolos’ as the greatest salsa singer.
Even Ismael Rivera performed in the first edition of the National Salsa Day in 1981, which was held at the Pepito Bonano stadium, in Guaynabo – a city near San Juan -, where the orchestras of Rosario and Bobby Valentín also performed.
Valentín, for his part, was the one who closed the National Salsa Day 2025, which although it was limited in its space, the thousands of people who attended enjoyed it from beginning to end.
