MIAMI - The HEAT Latin Music Awards is headed to Mexico for the first time. The Spanish-language music awards announced Thursday at the historic The Alfred I. DuPont Building in downtown Miami that its next edition, HEAT Latin Music Awards al Estilo Jalisco, will take place in Puerto Vallarta on Nov. 5, following a week of programming across the Mexican state of Jalisco.
HEAT Week is scheduled for Oct. 31 through Nov. 5 and will culminate in the awards gala at the Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center. The ceremony will be livestreamed on LosHeat.tv.
The move marks a new chapter for the awards, which were founded in the Dominican Republic in 2015 and have spent more than a decade moving through Latin America while honoring artists across genres through fan voting. The Jalisco edition is being produced in collaboration with the Government of Jalisco and the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta.
The Miami presentation brought together national and international media, content creators, artists and music-industry guests to introduce the partnership and its visual identity, which will draw from some of Jalisco's most recognizable artistic traditions.
"Jalisco is not simply providing us with a venue, it is giving us a home and a place to come together once again around music," Diana Montes, general director of the HEAT Latin Music Awards, said in a statement. "We arrive with ten years of Latin American history, and here we have found the hands that know how to bring it to life."
The event will incorporate five traditional Jalisco crafts: Tonalá ceramics, Wixárika art, blown glass, traditional toys and piteado leatherwork. Those practices will also shape the awards themselves. HEAT said its signature globe statuettes are being reinterpreted through these artisan techniques, making each piece distinct.
The awards' organizers framed the approach as a meeting point between Latin music and the culture of a state known worldwide as the birthplace of mariachi, the home of charrería and the landscape of the agave fields that surround Tequila.
"International events like this one further solidify Jalisco as Mexico's entertainment capital," Lorena Martínez, general director of the Jalisco State Entertainment Agency, said in a statement.
José Miguel Santos, director of event management for the Jalisco state government, was also part of the delegation that traveled to Miami for the announcement.
HEAT also unveiled the personalities who will host the 2026 edition: Mexican television personality and entrepreneur Karime Pindter; Dominican television host Caroline Aquino; Colombian content creator La Segura; Uruguayan chef and creator Ignacio Baladán; Venezuelan creator Yohana Vargas; and Colombian Latin music media personality Dímelo King.
The six hosts were introduced in a promotional spot filmed around Jalisco, highlighting locations across the state as well as the music, crafts and traditions that organizers aim to bring into the awards experience.
The Miami event also featured performances by Dominican singer Eddy Herrera, Colombian regional Mexican star Jessi Uribe, Ecuadorian artist Dayanara, Mexican singer Mario Girón and Colombian performer Jhon de la Torre. Their participation underscored the regional scope HEAT plans to bring to its first Mexican edition.
The gathering included Sala de Despecho, the Guadalajara-born entertainment brand that has brought its heartbreak-themed experience to cities including Miami, New York, Las Vegas, Barcelona and Madrid. Tequila Tesoro Azul, the brand associated with Mexican singer-songwriter Marco Antonio Solís, also joined the launch.
The dates place HEAT Week during Mexico's Día de Muertos period, when families honor loved ones who have died through altars, marigolds, food and remembrance. The timing was intentional, connecting the awards' celebration of music with a tradition rooted in memory, family and cultural continuity.
Nominees for the HEAT Latin Music Awards al Estilo Jalisco have not yet been announced. Once they are, fans will again determine the winners through voting, with the selected artists receiving the new Jalisco-inspired HEAT globes.
For HEAT, which has built its identity around traveling through Latin America, the Puerto Vallarta gala is more than another stop. It is the awards' first Mexican edition, and a bid to place Jalisco's musical and artisanal legacy at the center of a major Latin music event.
