If you’ve had enough of the gloomy day blues, we have your post-rain euphoria lineup on lock this weekend. Cooler weather calls for indoor events and on the music front there are plenty. Take your pick from Dominican singer-songwriter Alex Ferreira, hometown heroes La Santa Cecilia or Colombian rock crooner Juanes. Latinx With Plants leads a bootquet making class (yes, with a cowboy boot vase!) and Latinx literature magazine Huizache hosts a poetry reading downtown. If you’re looking for culture and community, head over to MOLAA for the Afro Latinx Festival featuring workshops, speakers and performances centering the diverse African diaspora.
LIVE MUSIC
Alex Ferreira at The Paramount: Dominican singer-songwriter Alex Ferreira grew up between his hometown of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, New York and Miami. He began his professional career performing in Dominican cultural oasis Casa de Teatro. An alternative rocker at heart, Ferreira experiments with his ukulele and synthesizer to create an eclectic collection of bachata, merengue, electronic and folk music. Boyle Heights’ last surviving ballroom The Paramount is fitting for the old soul who is influenced by ’90s Britpop, ’60s folk, Argentinian rock, boleros and Cuban ballads.
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: The Paramount, 2708 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles
Admission: Tickets $30
Oxygen’s soon-to-be released “Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them” capitalizes off Selena’s murder and speaks to Hollywood’s lack of investment in Latinx stories.
La Santa Cecilia: The Grammy Award-winning, L.A.-bred band continues to mesmerize audiences with an effortless blend of cumbia, funk, boleros, rancheras, norteño and jazz. Named after the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia sings about love, loss and everyday struggles. They draw inspiration from everyone incuding Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin to Miles Davis and Ramon Ayala. Lead singer Marisol Hernández, a.k.a. La Marisoul, is considered one of the most prominent voices in Mexican American music. She flys solo and collaborates with a diverse array of artists including Elvis Costello, Juanes, Café Tacvba, Lila Downs and Pepe Aguilar.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Luckman Fine Arts Complex, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles
Admission: Tickets start at $25
Myrandas at The Hotel Cafe: Saturday is Latin Music Industry Night at this Hollywood hot spot. Levitt Pavilion music programmer Luis Polanco has curated a crew of artists to represent. On the heels of releasing its new single “Necesito Q Me Distraigas,” L.A.-based band Myrandas performs its blend of Latin pop and electronica alongside drummer Richard Herrera, Subsuelo crew DJ Ethos and violist Jeremy Jones. What started as a rock project by trilingual singer Kristina Miranda and Grammy-winning engineer Marciel Miranda in Havana has evolved into a more urbano sound inspired by Rosalía, Bomba Estéreo and Bad Bunny. Jesús Guerrero, lead singer of Tijuana band Ramona, and patron saint of alt corridos Yetzirah Vargas are also performing.
When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Hotel Cafe, 1623 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles
Admission: Tickets $15
Juanes Vida Cotidiana Tour 2024: The Colombian crooner has been playing piano since he was two and formed his successful Metallica-influenced band Ekhymosis with friends at 17. After the band broke up in 1997, Juanes released his solo debut album “Fíjate Bien” in 2000 and eventually became one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. The Grammy Award winner stops in L.A. this weekend as part of the North American leg of his Vida Cotidiana World Tour. He’s expected to perform his greatest hits along with songs from his 11th studio album.
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: YouTube Theater, 1011 Stadium Dr., Inglewood
Admission: Tickets start at $42
ARTS & CULTURE
2024 Afro Latinx Festival: For over a decade, the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) has dedicated a day to celebrating the cultural contributions of the African diaspora in the Americas. Learn about the Afro Latinx experience from artists, scholars and community organizers through a series of conversations, performances and presentations. DJ iLLMeca will be spinning all day with performances by Street Dance Orixás, CYBERYOGA founder Lamonte Goode, Colombian folk dancer Alé Chavarriaga Rey, L.A.-based Puerto Rican band Plenazo Tribe and Afro-Peruvian performance artist Nadia Calmet. Workshops by Exposition Park’s upcoming visual storytelling museum Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Inland Empire’s Eastside Arthouse, spirograph art, a community mural and more take place throughout the day in the Artist Alley.
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach
Admission: Free
In this issue of De Los Reads, we explore six books that pave the way for a more inclusive and authentic expression of our Latino identities.
Poetry with Huizache: Since 2011, Huizache magazine has been the source of Latinx literature and art featuring the prose and poetry of acclaimed writers like Luis Valdez, Gary Soto, Sandra Cisneros and more. Founded by L.A.-born carpenter and writer Dagoberto Gilb, Huizache is named after the wild acacia tree native to Mexico that is said to taunt south and east Texas landowning farmers. Centering Latinx voices, the magazine has also showcased Native American writer Sherman Alexie, Palestinian American poet Naomi Shihab Nye and African American author Cornelius Eady. This LA Plaza poetry event features readings by Audrey Harris Fernández, Manuel Paul López and Michael Jaime-Becerra.
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: LA Cocina de Gloria Molina, 555 N. Spring St., Los Angeles
Admission: Free
Melania Luisa Marte curates the De Los Latino poetry series, where poets define what love means for those with complicated histories of immigration, assimilation and survival.
Bootquet Workshop at Latinx With Plants: We can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday than painting a ceramic cowboy boot and filling it with a handcrafted flower arrangement. Roll solo or take a friend and get crafty in the backyard greenhouse of this Boyle Heights plant hub. Latinx With Plants owner Andi Xoch will teach participants different painting techniques, including spray painting and stenciling, and how to create a flower arrangement using dried and fresh flowers. Everyone will take home a one-of-a-kind cowboy boot vase and arrangement to give to someone special or exhibit on on a coffee table.
When: Two available workshops: 1 to 3 p.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Latinx With Plants, 2208 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles
Admission: Tickets $60
CM2Arts Opening: After a four-year hiatus, the East L.A. art gallery formerly known as ChimMaya reopened down the street from its original location in the former Lucille and Edward R. Roybal Foundation building. Owner Steven Acevedo first opened the space in 2004 as a purse-and-jewelry boutique and soon began exhibiting a mix of established and emerging Chicano/Latino art. The second exhibit in the new space features a plethora of artists, including Robert Palacios, Rick Ortega, CiCi Segura Gonzalez, Emilia Garcia, Esau Andrade, Julie Zarate and Abby Aceves.
When: 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: CM2Arts, 5251 E. Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Admission: Free
Stand-up comedian Jose Velasquez, a.k.a. Hoozay, talks Salvadoran heritage and his five favorite Latino-owned businesses in Southern California.
GET OUTSIDE
L.A. Chinatown Firecracker Run: What started in 1978 as a 10K run to attract a wider audience to Chinatown’s Lunar New Year celebration has become one of the largest and oldest U.S. races of its kind. Choose between a 5/10K run/walk, bike ride, kiddie run/walk or dog walk at this Year of the Dragon event that attracts over 30,000 spectators and over 8,000 participants to Chinatown Plaza. All are welcome to enjoy the Lunar New Year festivities, which kick off at 7:15 a.m. with lion dancers and a traditional lighting of 100,000 firecrackers, and features vendors and booths. Join the Running Mamis contingent of over 30 runners ages four and up. The group will host a pre-race, three-mile run at 8 a.m. Saturday, and will meet up 6:45 a.m. on Sunday for race day.
When: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sunday
Where: Chinatown Central Plaza, 943 N. Broadway, Los Angeles
Admission: Registration starts at $41
CicLAvia Melrose: Inspired by the ciclovías that started in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1974 and continue to close off streets to motorists every Sunday, CicLAvia began in 2010 as a grassroots initiative to open streets for active transportation and public health needs in L.A.. Today, it continues to promote a temporary car-free existence for cyclists, walkers, runners, strollers and skaters to bask in a safer pedestrian-friendly alternative reality. More than 1.8 million people have explored over 300 miles of L.A. County, with open streets traversing neighborhoods from the San Gabriel to the San Fernando valleys and Southeast L.A. to West Hollywood. This Saturday, Melrose gets a turn to experience a car-free city. Expect music, performances, food trucks and rest stops with free water, bike repairs and restrooms.
When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Melrose Ave. between Fairfax Ave. and Vermont Ave.
Admission: Free
Kamren Curiel is a fourth-generation Xicana born in East L.A. and raised in Monterey Park and South San Gabriel. She’s written for L.A. Taco, Latina magazine, LAist, KCET, Alta and the Huffington Post, and was the senior editor at Remezcla and Sí TV.
