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San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival

Sep 21 2009 - Sep 27 2009  •  San Jose CA  •  Plaza de Cesar Chavez (and other locations)
Genre(s): latin-roots, mariachi, world

sanjosemariachi.png
Founded: 1992
Official Website
Phone: 408-928-5564
Email
Category: Roots
Region: Golden West
Type: Festival
"Now in its 18th year, the San José Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival presents a week-long schedule of music and educational events, drawing more than 50,000 people to hear artists like Linda Ronstadt, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Mariachi Cobre, Los Lobos, and Carlos Santana. The Festival is the cornerstone of the Mexican Heritage Corporation’s programming and the largest of its type in the nation. During the Festival, educational music and dance-master classes are offered by internationally renowned mariachis and maestros of ballet folklórico. The Festival closes with an outdoor feria, featuring music, arts, cultural activities and food in a celebration of Mexican heritage and cuisine."—Description by festival



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Ronstadt and Mariachi Los Camperos to close festival's free, three-stage Feria program on September 27
Wed, 09/23/2009 - 10:47

With the San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival already underway with cultural programs all week, the festival announced the full program for Sunday's Feria Del Mariachi Presented by Target. The free event in downtown San Jose's Plaza de Cesar Chavez will present three stages of entertainment and other attractions from 10 am to 6:30 pm.

The highlight of the day may come when festival artistic director Linda Ronstadt joins Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano during the closing set on the Target Mariachi Main Stage. Earlier in the day, other top mariachi bands will play the main stage, while local performers are featured on a second stage with dance and theatrical acts on the third stage. Entertainment will also be presented all day long in a children's tent.

Other activities and demonstrations include an art-technology installation, artisan gallery, sustainable building demonstration and delectable food court. For complete information, visit the festival website.

FP San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival page

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SJ Mariachi postpones art exhibit but adds second film screening
Fri, 09/11/2009 - 10:25

The opening of a blockbuster art exhibition, “The Lost Murals of Miguel Covarrubias,” has been dropped from the schedule of the upcomng San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival. Exhibition curators needed more time to incorporate recently discovered art and artifacts from History San José’s permanent collection into the exhibition. The exhibit is now scheduled to open next year at San Jose City Hall in time for Cinco de Mayo.

The festival also announced that it has added a second screening of the much anticipated film "La Mission," directed by Peter Bratt and starring his brother, Benjamin Bratt. The film was a hit at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The movie will be shown at Camera 12 Cinemas in downtown San Jose on Monday, September 21 at 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. A Q&A session with members of the film’s cast and crew will take place immediately following both showings. Tickets are $5 and available through the Camera Cinemas box office.

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Linda Ronstadt and Joan Baez promote next month's San Jose Mariachi Festival as a celebration of Mexican-American heritage
Wed, 08/26/2009 - 14:15

Two icons of American popular music described their personal journeys to embrace their Mexican identity at a press conference to promote the upcoming San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival.

Pop singer turned musical folklorist Linda Ronstadt, who is the festival’s artistic director, and folk balladeer and social activist Joan Baez, who will be a festival headliner, each came to prominence playing other styles of music and later incorporated Latin music and Spanish lyrics into their repertoire.

“I grew up speaking English and singing in Spanish—I thought everybody did,” said Ronstadt. Baez had a similar experience growing up with a father from Mexico and a mother from Scotland. “We never spoke Spanish in the house,” said Baez. As artists, both came around to recording and performing Mexican music.

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