Water Music Festival 2026

41st Annual WMF presented by the Water Music Society

Saturday, October 10, 2026

3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

• 3 pm social hour featuring delectable Latino appetizers, complete with beverages and a no-host bar
• 4 pm concert starts

Water Music Festival has brought the best in a variety of musical genres to the Long Beach Peninsula for 41 years – from classical, to jazz, to opera, and Broadway shows. This October, Festival attendees will experience the incredible talent of Latino/world-class artists Diego Figueiredo and Chuchito Valdes, each bringing a trio of amazing instrumentalists. Concertgoers will enjoy the exciting performance of each trio separately, and then all six musicians will come together for the final portion of the concert. AND TO ADD TO THIS EXCITEMENT, the Ilwaco High School mariachi band has been invited to join these professional musicians for the finale!

Tickets: $30

Artists: 

• Diego Figueiredo Trio
• Chuchito Valdes Trio
• Ilwaco High School Mariachi Ensemble

Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo (pronounced “fig-a-ray-doe”) lives in, with, and for the music. Some people are simply meant to be musicians. Diego is one. He began playing music at four years old. By the age of twelve, he had already attracted a local following, and by the age of fifteen, he was drawing huge crowds across Brazil. Diego is now considered among the world’s greatest (jazz) guitarists. His skills on his instrument are matched only by his ability to move freely between styles, and his sublime technique is paired with an exquisite ability to vary his playing so that it radiates with unwavering excitement. George Benson says, “Diego is one of the greatest guitarists I’ve seen in my whole life.”

Pianist, bandleader, composer, and arranger Chuchito Valdés is one of the most influential figures in the world of Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz. In a career spanning more than 60 years, both as a solo artist and bandleader, Valdés has fused elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock, and more into his distinctive style. Valdés leads his own ensembles and has taken home seven Grammy Awards and six Latin Grammy Awards to date. In 2006, he was named the Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and, in 2018, he was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

All ages | Tickets are Nonrefundable.