Wilmington Fiesta: ‘It’s like a big family party . . . ‘

Suppose you gave a party and invited a few thousand close friends and family members?

That’s about to happen in Wilmington, where the Wilmington Fiesta takes over Banning Park for three days beginning tonight with everything from carnival rides and Latino-flavored entertainment to a menudo cook-off.

“It’s like a big family party where you see people talking to each other,” said fiesta co-chairman John Mendez, adding that in the close-knit Wilmington community, many of the celebrators are either related or know each other.

“This brings the community together,” said Ray Madrigal, the fiesta’s other co-chairman. “What we see at the fiesta is a lot of people working together and having a good time.”

Anywhere from 7,000 to 12,000 people are expected to attend the fiesta. A variety of community organizations will have booths to raise funds for their projects, but the big winner will be the Wilmington Teen Center, which keeps local youngsters out of trouble by providing counseling, education, job opportunities and recreation.

While the fiesta comes off as a grand party, it was started specifically to raise money for the center, which gets some funding from the city of Los Angeles, according to Mendez and Madrigal. Both are leaders of the Harbor Community Development Corp., which supervised the teen center until it became an independent agency in 1982. Madrigal said he hopes $20,000 can be raised this weekend.

“What makes this fiesta work is that a lot of the young people that have been a part of Teen Center program come back to help put this on for the kids who currently use it,” Madrigal said. “They are paying back for what they received.”

Visitors to the fiesta, held near the park’s tennis courts, never lack for something to do. The carnival will be the attraction tonight. Entertainers on Saturday and Sunday will range from professionals such as the Latin rock and salsa group MALO and Los Camperos mariachis to youthful folklorico groups with roots in Wilmington’s large Latino community.

One of them is the Ballet Raices, whose name means roots in Spanish. Wearing intricate and colorful costumes, the young people--most of them between 6 and 10--perform regional Mexican dances.

“We like to express our Mexican heritage,” said Raices teacher Catherine Rodriguez, adding that teaching youngsters about their own culture is a major goal of the group. “A lot of them don’t know that they have any heritage until they start to dance,” she said. “We teach the history and make a lot of our own costumes.”

Another folklorico group scheduled to perform is Corazon de Mexico, a company of dancers from Wilmington and Carson. They will don white outfits with red bandannas to perform dances from the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz and from northern Mexico.

A special salute to Wilmington’s 130th anniversary will be given Sunday at an invitation-only reception at noon. It will be attended by leaders of community groups, commercial sponsors who support the fiesta, Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores and a representative of Mayor Tom Bradley--if not the mayor himself.

And then there’s the menudo, that traditional Mexican stew of tripe, hominy, onions, peppers and spices--said to be a perfect tonic for hangovers. Its aroma will waft over the fiesta grounds during the menudo cook-off, with preliminary judging Saturday and the finals on Sunday, both at 3 p.m. There are 10 entries this year--and they’ll prepare enough to provide plenty of samples.

“People compete hard, just like at a baseball game,” said Madrigal, who added that what makes the best menudo always provokes hot debates. “Some say it’s more meat, some say more hominy,” he said. The right combination of ingredients is worth a $500 prize.

Like most contestants, last year’s winner, Celia Alvarez, doesn’t disclose her secret, although Connie Calderon, teen center program director, speculated that it’s the way she uses chilies. Calderon said Alvarez is famous in Wilmington for her menudo. And Alvarez--who entered for the first time last year and is defending her championship this weekend--doesn’t disagree.

“They tell me it’s the best in town,” she said.

What: Wilmington Fiesta.

When: Today, 5 to 11 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Where: Banning Park, 400 E. Pacific Coast Highway., Wilmington.

Admission: Friday, $1; Saturday and Sunday, adults $4, children 11 and under $1.

Parking: available at Banning High School.

Information: 549-0052.