[6] The festival takes place for six days at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, a stage that has a capacity for 15,000 spectators,[7] and is broadcast live on radio, television, streaming and online video platforms, regularly breaking viewing records with an estimated audience of around 250 million of people.

Thanks to the initiative of the mayor Gustavo Lorca[12] and Carlos Ansaldo, director of the Department of Tourism and Public Relations of the Municipality of Viña del Mar, between February 21 and 28, 1960, a unique competition was organized, in which the contestants had to present an original song whose theme was the city of Viña del Mar; the winner would opt for a prize of 500 escudos in cash and an award called Lira de Oro.

[15] At the beginning of the festival, a stage was improvised next to the Vergara Palace, a place where the audience sat on wooden chairs, or directly on the grass or dirt floor.

[16] In turn, many spectators sat They were located on the hills adjacent to the Quinta and on the tops of the nearby trees, giving the contest a provincial air.

[15] In 1963, the architect Hernando López designed an open-air amphitheater with a paraboloid shape and crowned by an acoustic shell,[17] receiving the collaboration of the civil builder Juan Pinto Delgado.

[18] Built of wood and steel, it imitated the flight of a seagull, becoming the most distinctive detail of the construction, which over the years, became an icon of the Festival, and in the image of the contest before the world.

In 1971, representatives of the Soviet Union were applauded for their support of the Popular Unity (UP), while in 1972, South African Miriam Makeba was booed by the conservative sector for praising President Salvador Allende and exclaiming "long live the Chilean revolution!".

[21] Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat, the dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet came to control the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, choosing to only promote and feature sympathetic artists, in particular those that were part of the Acto de Chacarillas in 1977.

[24][25] Beginning in 1980, when the festival had gained popularity and started airing internationally, the regime took advantage of this opportunity to promote a favourable image of Chile to the rest of the world.

[22] To that end, the 1981 festival committee had a larger budget with which to feature popular foreign artists, including Miguel Bosé, Julio Iglesias and Camilo Sesto.

[citation needed] Schultz and Mason also arranged for major international jurors including: George Martin (the Beatles' producer), Maurice Jarre (scored the films such as Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, Witness, A Passage To India, and Ghost), Manoella Torres (Mason produced her hit duet, which was written by Schultz entitled "No me mires así"), Joey Travolta, Connie Stevens and many others.

The 2008 Viña Festival was hosted by Sergio Lagos and Tonka Tomicic, and headlined by Nelly Furtado, Wisin & Yandel, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

In the 2003 edition the Italian singer-songwriter Franco Simone received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" for having strung together thirty years of success in South America with his songs translated into Spanish.

[35] Some of the women chosen as Queen include: Celia Cruz, Diana Bolocco, Thalía, Sigrid Alegría, Yuri, Raffaella Carrà, Tonka Tomicic, and Gloria Trevi.

In February 2023, the definitive elimination of the Reina de Viña was announced (assuming the election of the Rey would never take place), before the refusal of the municipality headed by the mayor Macarena Ripamonti, due to the «stigmatization of the woman» and the farandulización of the event.