We sat down for an exclusive interview with Elena Beltrami who shares insights into the festival’s legacy and the thinking behind centring female artists in its programming.
This festival runs from 20th April – 6th May – Tickets here.
1. After 26 years of La Linea, what feels most urgent about centring female artists in the festival’s 2026 programme?
After 26 years, La Linea has grown into an inclusive space where we can genuinely pause and ask: who still isn’t being seen enough? In recent years, through our work across different scenes in Latin America and its diaspora, it’s become very clear just how many incredible women are shaping sounds, scenes and movements, often without the same visibility or platforms as their male counterparts. Centring female artists in 2026 feels urgent because this is where so much of the energy, experimentation and future-thinking in Latin music is happening right now. We’re especially proud to present two UK-based, female-led projects this year, including the fourth edition of Latinas of London with Desta French, Allexa Nava and Xativa, showcasing some of the most exciting Latin female artists in the UK, alongside Las Salseras, a nine-piece, all-female salsa band led by Eliane Correa.
2. A 90% female line-up is still rare in global festivals — was this a radical decision or a natural evolution of La Linea’s values?
It honestly feels like a natural progression. La Linea has always evolved in response to the cultural moment. In 2025, for example, we consciously leaned into a more queer-centred line-up, reflecting what we were seeing creatively and politically within the Latin music world. The 2026 programme continues that journey. The percentage might look radical on paper, but the decision came very organically from the artists we were most excited about programming.
3. How does La Linea balance celebrating Latin music heritage while pushing audiences toward new, boundary-breaking voices?
We’ve always seen heritage as something living, not fixed. Latin music has never been static, it’s constantly absorbing influences, mutating and responding to social change. Our programming reflects that approach: we honour legacy by giving space to artists who are reworking traditions, challenging expectations and pushing back against the stereotypes Latin music is often subjected to. This year’s line-up includes artists like young Peruvian singer Renata Flores, who performs in Quechua, honouring her Andean roots, alongside the Barbican’s Colombian Queens programme, where artists such as Adriana Lucía and Nidia Góngora represent Caribbean and Pacific sound traditions, while La Muchacha brings a younger, more activist voice from the contemporary Colombian scene. That dialogue between past and future has always been central to La Linea’s identity.
4. In the context of wider festival trends, what responsibility do curators have in reshaping who gets visibility and why?
Curators play a huge role, whether they acknowledge it or not. Every line-up sends a message about what — and who — matters. For us, it’s about paying attention to what’s really happening on the ground, rather than reproducing the same hierarchies year after year. It’s also important to give visibility to talented artists that brings music quality who might not be mainstream. If festivals want to stay relevant, they need to reflect real cultural shifts, not just musical trends — and act as platforms where audiences can both see artists they love and discover new ones.
5. How does London’s multicultural identity influence the way La Linea programmes Latin music differently from festivals elsewhere?
London gives us a very particular lens. The city is full of diasporic stories, hybrid identities and cross-genre conversations, and that naturally shapes how we programme. Latin music here doesn’t exist in isolation, it’s constantly interacting with electronic music, jazz, club culture, and experimental scenes. That openness and inclusivity allows La Linea to present Latin music as expansive and evolving, rather than boxed into expectations.
6. Looking ahead, what do you hope La Linea’s legacy will represent for future generations of artists and audiences?
I’d love La Linea to be remembered as a festival that wasn’t afraid to listen, shift and change, while always keeping the quality of the music and the artists at its centre. A festival that reflected its time, supported boundary-pushing artists and helped audiences discover new ways of engaging with Latin music. Most importantly, one that made the community it represents feel proud, welcome and genuinely reflected. If future generations see La Linea as a platform that made space — especially when space wasn’t being offered elsewhere — then we’ve done something meaningful.