Fair Will Showcase Valley Mariachi Bands

The San Fernando Valley Mariachi Committee and the cultural group Cultuaztlan will present the first “Feria del Mariachi” on Sunday at Hansen Dam Outdoor Theater.

The free feria, or fair, will be held from 3 to 6:30 p.m. and will feature eight mariachi bands, with most of the musicians, including one all-female group, coming from the Valley, organizers said.

“We are hoping that it goes over well enough that we can do it every year,” said Leonard Negrete, co-chairman of the San Fernando Valley Latino Arts Council, the umbrella group for the sponsor organizations.

“The idea is basically to promote positive cultural awareness in the community,” Negrete said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, also an event sponsor, said mariachi music has never been more popular in the area.

“Mariachi music has become such a widespread trend throughout the Los Angeles region, we thought it was time to take advantage of the mariachi groups in the San Fernando Valley and exhibit them,” Alarcon said.

Many of the scheduled performers are students at Valley schools, and some are as young as 6, Negrete said.

One group, Mariachi Las Altenitas, is made up entirely of high-school-age girls. It is one of the few all-female mariachi bands in the city, Alarcon said.

The other bands scheduled to appear at the fair are Mariachi Cuicatlan, Mariachi Tenochtitlan, Mariachi Campanitas, Mariachi Este Es Mi Mexico, Mariachi Alma de Mexico, Mariachi Sol Azteca and Mariachi Futuro.