Larger than expected crowds made the Presidente Latin Music Festival an overwhelming success over the weekend. The festival is known as the principal of its kind held in the Caribbean every year. The press estimated a first night attendance of 60,000, a new record for the Olympic Stadium. Second and third night attendance were estimated at around 50,000. Thousands turned up to listen to Ricky Martin, Alejandro Fernández, Juan Gabriel, Carlos Vives, Fernando Villalona, Azúcar Moreno, Los Rosario, Milly Quezada, Victor Manuelle, Grupo Maná, DGL, Grupo Niche and Jerry Rivera. Press reports say that the best performances were those of Fernando Villalona and Alejandro Fernández. On the downside, the sound was not as good as last year, and there continued to be problems with long slow lines entering the Olympic Stadium. Some persons couldn’t get in despite having tickets. The Festival is part of the overall marketing strategy of Presidente as it penetrates international markets. President had US$20 million in beer sales in the US last year. The company first began selling in Miami and New York and now Presidente beer is popular in New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut and Boston. Estimated beer sales by Latins in those areas is 80 liters per capita. Presidente has 95% of the beer sales in this country. In the Dominican Republic some 30 liters per capita of beer are consumed, or 220 million liters a year. Venezuela consumes 60 liters per person, Puerto Rico 70 liters, and Belgium 150 liters, as per a report in the Listin Diario.
