Crowd Catches Rhythm of Folk Celebration in La Jamaica Festival

Kenny Lipinski smiled broadly as he peered at the display table. He was not sure what he was looking at, but he liked the molded figures.

“They look really cool, and they’re funny,” the 12-year-old Santa Ana resident said Saturday, pointing to the papier-mache skeletons.

“There’s one being operated on, and there’s the devil and stuff. And there’s the cucaracha guy,” he said.

Well, actually, it was not a cucaracha guy, but a mariachi. But if the youngster walked away from the booth on the Bowers Museum parking lot knowing a little more about Day of the Dead figures, then organizers of Santa Ana’s 10th annual La Jamaica Festival could consider their mission accomplished.

By bringing together artisans, Aztec dancers, mariachis, Mexican food cooks and others, organizers of the Mexican folk festival said, they hoped to increase an understanding of Latino culture.

La Jamaica (pronounced ha-MY-ka ) is a traditional fund-raising festival, usually held in churches in Mexico and the southern United States. Money from this event will be used for educational events sponsored by Bowers Museum’s Mexican-American Arts Council.

“The people who don’t know Mexicans, right away they think of gangs and graffiti writers,” said Jay Portillo, a member of the arts group. “Once they get to know of the beautiful ethnic roots we have, they change their minds about us, and they see us in a different light.”

Portillo said the celebration also helps teach younger Latinos their heritage as they assimilate into U.S. society.

The daylong fiesta began with a blending of the cultures. A Mexican flag hung over the stage as the U.S. national anthem was sung.

As crowds gathered to watch a bilingual children’s operetta with an environmental theme, Mike Marenco peddled tostadas de ceviche from a nearby food booth.

“Get wild and crazy!” he shouted. “Vamanos!”

In between bites of a giant burrito, Barbie Freeman of Santa Ana boasted of her “made-to-order” snack. A strict vegetarian, she could not eat the meat offered in the traditional burrito. So a cook stuffed the tortilla with lettuce, tomato, onions, radishes and cheese.

“There’s something for everyone at this festival, even for the vegetarians,” she said.

But only the daring, it seemed, were willing to try the Jamaica drink, a concoction brewed from the petals of hibiscus plants. The drink gives the festival its name.

As she sold soft-drink tickets, Rima Cameron guessed that only one out of 20 people asked about the brew.

“It’s an acquired taste,” she said, grimacing slightly. “I just tell people, ‘It’s a tart Mexican drink.’ ”

At a pinata booth, Marta Zamora said the traditional models shaped like donkeys were selling as quickly as Raggedy Ann versions.

But another item often found at Mexican festivals, cascarones, drew puzzling looks from passersby, said Carolyn Rios, whose family creates the game. Cascarones are decorated eggshells filled with confetti and then broken over the heads of celebrators.

“It’s amazing,” she said as she repeated the questions asked most often by bewildered customers. “What is it? How did you get the egg out? What is it used for?”

Rios said she is proud that the tradition has stayed alive in her family.

“I know my grandmother is just smiling down on us right now,” she said.