Latin Music Fest Sizzles With Sun and Salsa

About 40,000 people braved the summer heat in search of sizzling rhythms Sunday at the fifth annual Sin Fronteras (Without Borders) Latino Music Festival at Hansen Dam Recreational Park.

To many, familiar sounds filled the air, but for at least one spectator, the music was something to write home about.

“You don’t see this back in Utah,” said Mormon missionary Jason Stapley, 20, as he briefly left his recruitment booth to take a snapshot of the ensemble El Mariachi Nacional de Mexico.

“If I could only get my camera over those hats,” Stapley said, standing on tiptoe to get a shot over oversize sombreros that were being sold for $10 and umbrellas brought to ward off the heat.

The festival was a benefit concert for the Los Angeles Police Department’s Jeopardy program, which provides recreational equipment and facilities to youngsters age 9 to 18 who are considered at risk of joining a gang.

The show, which ran from noon to 6 p.m., included performances by Marisela, a recent No. 1 act on the Latin pop chart; Pepe Aguilar, son of Mexican superstar Antonio Aguilar, and Mexican actor-singer Lucia Mendez.

Carlos Garcia of North Hollywood said he’s more of an R & B man but came to see Jose Feliciano perform his acoustic rendition of “Light My Fire,” which climbed to No. 3 on the national charts in 1968, when Garcia was a romantic teenager.

“I love that song,” Garcia said.

Henry Rivera, 20, of Canoga Park brought his friend, Lucy Chang, to introduce her to the music he has grown to love in the past two years.

Chang, a fan of so-called alternative music, said she was bored and dehydrated. But Rivera promised she would perk up when the hip-hop group Mestizzo pounded out their beats. “She’ll be dancing before the end of the day,” he said.