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SAN FRANCISCO – In a lively twist, a Bad Bunny look-alike contest at a San Francisco eatery transformed into an impromptu street festival, drawing in hundreds of the global icon’s fans. Enthusiasts gathered to support the contestants and sing along to Bad Bunny’s hits, all in anticipation of his upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance this weekend.
More than 30 participants from the Bay Area, including men with tight curls, women sporting wigs and faux facial hair, and even a kindergartener in a fedora and bow tie, vied for a $100 prize. This spirited event took place in a bustling Mexican restaurant in the Mission district.
Contestants channeled the essence of the 31-year-old Puerto Rican sensation, sporting signature looks such as the traditional “pava” straw hats and shearling aviator caps reminiscent of those Bad Bunny has donned since his 2025 album, “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos,” which translates to “I should have taken more photos.” This album recently clinched the title of Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
Adam Fox, 24, accompanied by his friend Alejandro Kurt, 23, made the trip from Belmont, located about 25 miles south of San Francisco. Both men, recognized for their curly dark hair and facial resemblance to Bad Bunny, decided to join the fun.
Fox, an aspiring actor who dressed in a suit, bowtie, and dark sunglasses, shared that he enjoys Bad Bunny’s music despite not being a Spanish speaker.
His music “is like art. You don’t have to totally understand it. It could just be something that’s beautiful,” Fox said.
The contestants imitated Bad Bunny’s “perreo,” or twerking, and repeated his criticism of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign with one wnnabe-Bad Bunny in a wig and a black tuxedo holding an “ICE Out” sign as she danced through the packed Tacolicious restaurant to roaring cheers from the crowd.
But the artist’s music remained the focus of the lookalike contest organized by Mission Loteria, a group that promotes Latino businesses, with people spilling out to the street where a DJ played Bad Bunny’s most-loved tracks and some in costumes resembling the Puerto Rican crested toad, an endangered species that is featured in one of his music videos, danced with contestants.
Pamela Guo, 33, traveled from San Jose to compete in the contest dressed in an aviator hat, shorts and an athletic jacket. Guo, who had a painted-on beard, said she is such a fan of the singer that she traveled to Mexico City to see him in concert.
“I love to perrear and dance, so I do love that aspect of his music,” she said, adding that his last album has deeper lyrics that speak to her because they talk about our shared humanity.
The grand prize went to Abdul Ramirez Arroyave, a professional Bad Bunny impersonator from Colombia, who was dressed in a red shirt and straw hat on top a tight curly hair wig.
When asked to say a few words after his win, he said “thanks for everything” then broke into song with the crowd singing along Bad Bunny’s “Debi tirar mas fotos.”
Ramirez Arroyave then joined the party outside and took photos with his new adoring fans.
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