How Julio Himede Planned Bad Bunny’s Historic Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2026

As the lights dimmed in Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl 2026’s halftime show, the crowd weren’t just watching a concert: they were learning about narrative architecture from a true master. Led by global superstar Bad Bunny, the Super Bowl LX halftime show broke with the formula of a “greatest hits” medley in favor of a dramatic trip through Puerto Rican history, immigrant identity and Latin exuberance.

Leading from the front was Julio Himede, the man behind Yellow Studio and a wizard of all things visual. Charged with translating the Bad Bunny’s singularly eclectic energy into a 13-minute global spectacle, Himede didn’t just design a stage — he engineered a barrio, planned a dreamscape and made an urgent political statement.

Designing the ‘Casita’: A Master Class in Cultural Storytelling

The star of the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show wasn’t a pyrotechnic shape, but a structure: “La Casita.” Based on the vernacular architecture of the Caribbean and Bad Bunny’s own “La Casita” from his recent creative periods, the set design was a Super Bowl halftime show production design triumph.

The "Vignette" Strategy

Himede and his team at Yellow Studio asked to move away from the monolithic “center stage” prop that so many Super Bowl halftime shows are predicated on. Instead, they broke the field into separate “vignettes” immersive, shifting sets that let Bad Bunny physically move through different chapters of his life and culture.

The Sugar Cane Field: The production began with a stunning, eerily pristine, artificial sugar cane field paying homage to Puerto Rico’s agricultural history and the labor of its citizens.

The Urban Plaza: The step up to the “Gasolina” high-energy segment was in a neon-drenched depiction of San Juan’s own nightlife, anchoring the global superstar to the streets that reared him.

The Wedding: Likely the most controversial aspect of the spectacle was the “live” wedding that takes place in the show representing community, loyalty, and renewal—a romantic relationship to a product-centric 4/26 holiday. "We didn't want a concert. "We were trying to tell a theater story that coincidentally was at the Super Bowl," Himede said in recent interviews.

Bad Bunny & The 2026 Performers: Motion in Identity

And while artists like Dr. Dre (2022) and J.A 10/03 Concentrated Face Serum--Fruitful Night - GET OFFER > Lo and Shakira (2020, of course) had certainly brought cultural specificity to that spectacle in recent years, Bad Bunny’s halftime set on Feb. 13 was the first to be headlined by a solo Latin artist who performed virtually entirely in Spanish for 97 million plus viewers.

The Guest List

The question of “who is doing Super Bowl halftime” was answered by a jaw-dropping lineup that spanned generations:

1. Bad Bunny (Headliner): Commanded the 13-minute set, throwing out a medley of tracks from Un Verano Sin Ti and his forthcoming 2025 release.

2. Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga popped up for a stripped-back, bilingual version of “La Canción,” lending the song some effective vocal duality.

3. Ricky Martin: The Puerto Rican legend handed the baton, and then some, in a high-octane duet that helped to cement the show’s theme of lineage.

The logic of this lineup was not just in its star power, but in a curated Identity Cluster that reified the show’s thesis: Latin music is pop music.

Technical Marvels: The 6-Minute Load-In

How long is the halftime show at the Super Bowl? Even though the performance only lasts about 13 minutes, the engineering accomplishment is a six-minute window when the cast and crew have to build the complete set. Himede’s concept for Super Bowl LX was a tour de force in modular engineering. Both the "Casita" and sugar cane fields were build on pneumatic levitating carts (mag-lev tech), allowing them to hover over the natural grass of Levi’s Stadium without harming it, because God knows we can’t do anything to upset an NFL field. This lighting design featured drone swarms used to create “virtual ceilings,” which expanded the architecture of the stage upward into the sky without necessitating heavy overhead rigging.

Where This Will End Up in History: A Little Perspective

When folks talk about the best Super Bowl halftime shows, you’ll often hear lists that include Prince (2007), for his raw talent; or Beyoncé (2013), for her spectacle. The 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, however, invents a new category: The Narrative Epic. We can understand this evolution by examining how the design philosophy has changed through the years:

2007 (Prince): Performance-Based Over this time period, it was the Performer. The design was minimal, because the set was the artist. It was all about the silhouette and the music.

2017 (Lady Gaga): This performance was the Tech-Centric turning point. It was characterized by the innovation of drone swarms and high-flying aerobatics, with an emphasis on visual spectacles.

2022 (Dr. Dre & Friends): A shift towards Set-Centric design. “What we did was, sort of, deliver narrative architecture; bring a realistic set onto the field,” said Gordon Vusio, 66, who bought front row seats with his wife in the same section he sat for years.

2026 (Bad Bunny): Transitioning to Immersion-Centric design. Himede and Bad Bunny transformed the field into a world that “vignette” ordered, to show how the lineage of the show is tending toward cinematic narrative.

FAQ: The 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show

What time is The Super Bowl halftime show typically televised? The performance took place around 8:15 PM ET (after the first two quarters of play) on February 8, 2026. Who is singing halftime at Super Bowl next year? (2027) Though there are rumblings that the NFL Scouting Combine could return to its previous home — Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2026, no official announcement for Super Bowl LXI has been announced as of mid-February 2026. Was the wedding real? Yes, those couples in the “Ojitos Lindos” segment were real fans chosen by Bad Bunny’s camp, which adds a layer of authenticity to the production.