A lack of funding and space is prompting a signature National City event to move to Chula Vista in 2019, said National City Chamber CEO and President Jacqueline Reynoso.
The beloved International Mariachi Festival will no longer be held at Pepper Park but in the neighboring city where there is more accessibility by the public.
Members of the National City Chamber went before the Chula Vista City Council earlier this month to request their support and endorsement for the move to Bayside Park.
Reynoso said moving the event to another location is bittersweet — part of growing pains when an event is so successful that it outgrows capacity.
The partnership with Chula Vista will assist the National City Chamber with marketing, promotions and outreach of the event.
“It’s our hope to grow and expand … engagement and bring in entertainment to attract more people from a diverse age range,” Reynoso said.
The event, which began in 2013, is hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Port of San Diego. It’s grown significantly from 500 attendees five years ago to about 15,000 earlier this year.
The mariachi fest started as an economic development tool to celebrate San Diego’s Mexican heritage through mariachi music, traditional ballet folklorico dancing, arts, culture and food, and has since become a staple in the South Bay community.
“The reason we put on this event is because we see the nexus between community and economic development,” Reynoso said. “We’re promoting youth development, arts, culture and community pride. It’s empowering to the community we serve but it’s also an economic stimulus.”
The event, which costs close to $200,000 to produce, in large part comes from a title sponsorship at the Port of San Diego with other funding coming from a community enhancement grant and individual donors.
However, Reynoso said the chamber is currently looking to develop new relationships with individuals and organizations that want to get involved with the largest mariachi festival in San Diego.
Reynoso said she expects closer to 20,000 attendees for the 7th annual event, which features a mariachi-inspired fashion show, more than 70 local artisan-retail vendors, 10 food vendors offering Mexican street tacos to sushi burritos, a beer garden and mini bar, entertainment pavilion and earth expo.
”The Mariachi Festival will be another exciting cultural event on the Bayfront that will be a regional draw. Having attended the Mariachi Festival in Pepper Park in the past I know that the event has outgrown the venue. Having the festival on the Chula Vista Bayfront will allow even more people to experience the beautiful sounds and sights of the Mexican culture,” said Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas.
A family area will offer live entertainment on the kid’s stage, face painting, caricatures, an inflatable rock climbing wall, virtual reality games and arts and crafts.
The event will highlight mariachi groups from across the U.S. and Mexico with students representing middle and high schools competing for the opportunity to win first ($1,000), second ($500) and third place ($250) cash prizes.
Professional main stage performers will include Mariachi Los Reyes, Mariachi Juvenil de San Diego, among many others.
A few days prior to the festival some 300 mariachi students and their families will be flown in from around the world to participate in a two-day conference of music instruction and training by renowned mariachi educators and practitioners at the University of San Diego.
The 7th annual International Mariachi Festival and Competition is March 10 at Bayside Park in Chula Vista from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information visit: www.mariachifest.com.
