The rains held off and the huge crowd, estimated to be almost 50,000 strong, celebrated the last day of the Presidente Music Festival in the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo. Starting at 6:15 in the evening, the show lasted well into the early hours. Krisspy, Julian de Oro, Franco de Vito, Pavel Nunez, Sergio Vargas and Johnny Ventura were just some of the stars that delighted the fans. Daddy Yankee kept the audience enthralled from start to finish and the popular Sergio Vargas even played a bit of politics. He came on stage with a new, short hair style. Since his announcement several years ago that he would not have his hair cut until the streets of Villa Altagracia were paved, everyone thought that his plea had been answered. But, no, after two songs he took off the wig an unfurled his enormous Afro. Every popular style, from reggaeton to merengue, was on the program, and when the fireworks display had finally ended, the promoters had provided over 15,000 gallons of water for the thirsty fans.
Adriano Miguel Tejada, in his A.M. column in Diario Libre, pointed out just how important the festival is on the very local level, and in two different aspects – the economic and the social. The festival generates hundreds of millions of pesos, according to Tejada, and perhaps even more in good publicity for the country. Everyone wins – taxi drivers, security people, hotels, food vendors, and even the ticket scalpers. The newspaper editor says that the performers, the media and a whole gamut of related economic activities got something out of the festival. But Tejada also sees that the festival, for those down in the grassy part of the stadium also had a very positive effect: Kids from all different social and economic strata were all mixed together having a good time, such as portrayed in Serrat’s “Fiesta”, and they forgot the economic and social differences and enjoyed themselves for a few days. Tejada says that this is priceless in social and political terms.