A Festival That Feels Like a Ritual
There are festivals you attend for the headliner, and there are festivals you attend for the atmosphere. Trópico has always been the second kind. Three days in Acapulco, with music sliding from pool to beach, palm trees silhouetted against neon lights, and the feeling that the year is closing with sun on your skin instead of cold on your shoulders. Set at the Pierre Mundo Imperial hotel complex on Playa Revolcadero, Trópico brings together electronic music, live acts, design, and pool parties right on the Pacific coast.
When Espíritu Was Part of the Market
In earlier editions, Espíritu had the chance to be part of the Trópico market. While DJs were setting up and sound checks filled the air, we were setting out huaraches on racks, arranging sizes, and watching the festival slowly wake up with the heat. People would wander in half sleepy, coffee in hand, curiosity in their eyes.
We met dancers who had been up all night and somehow still had energy for one more set. We met people seeing Mexican huaraches for the first time, and others who recognized them instantly from childhood memories. They would try on a pair, walk a few steps across grass or sand, and tell us where they had come from: Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana, New York, Barcelona. For us, the market was never just about selling—it was about watching craft and music coexist under the same sky.
This Year, Only as Guests
This year was different. We didn’t bring crates, stock, or displays. We showed up the way everyone else did: with small bags, sunscreen, and the intention to enjoy every set. It felt important to be there simply as part of the crowd, especially knowing that for us, this would be the last time we experienced Trópico in person.
Without the responsibility of the stand, time moved more slowly. We could let ourselves drift: from a daytime DJ set by the pool to a sunset performance, from the hotel corridors pulsing with bass to the quiet moment of standing on the sand, listening to the sea between tracks. We watched other brands hold down the market, and it felt like seeing a younger version of ourselves—excited, exhausted, and completely in love with the work.
A Soundtrack Made of Waves and Basslines
Trópico 2025 came back with a lineup that felt exactly like the festival itself: nostalgic and forward-looking at the same time. Headliners like The Blaze and Bonobo (DJ set) shared the bill with Todd Terje, Rusowsky, RY X, Ben UFO, Joy Anonymous, Lewis OfMan, Kazy Lambist, Felix Da Housecat, Sofia Kourtesis and many more, blending fine electronic music with global sounds across three days.
There’s a moment that only happens at festivals like this: you’re standing somewhere between the pool and the beach, bare ankles still wet from the water, and a track starts to build slowly. The crowd around you is a mix of sequins, mesh, linen, swimwear, and sandals. No one is trying to look perfect anymore; everyone is just trying to feel something real. The bass drops, the palms sway, and for a few minutes you forget what day it is.
Acapulco, Memory, and Return
After Hurricane Otis, Trópico temporarily moved to Mexico City in 2023 to help raise funds for Acapulco’s recovery. Seeing the festival fully return to the coast for its 2025 edition carried extra weight. The palm trees, the pools, the hotel corridors—they all felt familiar, but they also felt more fragile, more precious. Being there wasn’t just about dancing; it was about showing up for a place that has given so many people their favorite December memories.
Walking around the site, we kept noticing small details: the way people hugged a little longer, the conversations about “remember that year when…”, the joy of seeing the sea again after wondering what would happen to Acapulco’s future. For us, this edition felt like a closing circle.
Our Last Trópico (For Now)
By the last night, our pockets were full of wristbands and sand, our voices were tired, and our legs were buzzing from days of walking, dancing, and just standing still listening. We knew this was our last Trópico—not because the festival is ending, but because this was the right moment for us to say goodbye.
We watched the final sets with the calm of knowing we had already lived Trópico in many ways: as vendors in the market, as designers watching our huaraches move through the crowd, and now as guests blending into the dance floor. All those versions of us existed at once as we looked out over the dark Pacific, full of sound and light.
We left Acapulco carrying what we always try to design into our shoes: traces of salt, long nights, unexpected conversations, and the relief of feeling fully present in your own body. Somewhere in that crowd, there were still people wearing pairs they once bought from our stand in editions past. That’s the kind of legacy we love—footprints, memories, and a festival that will always feel like a ritual of music, sea, and friends, even after we’ve packed our bags and headed home.
