Lansing - What began as a simple fundraiser 27 years ago for Cristo Rey Church, has evolved into the largest Latino festival in mid-Michigan. Despite the church's many location moves since its foundation in the early 1960s, it has maintained its annual fiesta tradition.
The predominantly Latino Catholic parish, at 201 W. Miller Road, will hold Fiesta 2004 this weekend, a celebration of culture. Activities take place Friday 4-11 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. -11 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. -7 p.m. and include authentic food, live entertainment and a marketplace.
"We went from one small tent to two massive tents covering the entire area," Fiesta 2004 director Hugo Romero said. "We expect 20,000 people over the three day period."
The festival will represent Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala and other Latino countries. At the time of the church's foundation, Lansing's Latino population was fewer than 1,000. Now, it is Lansing's second biggest minority group, numbering more than 10,000 people.
The fiesta not only brings the church's community together but the city of Lansing as well.
"The most important thing we do is to bring people together," Romero said. "We're very proud of presenting this to the Lansing community."
As part of the live entertainment, Everett High School's mariachi band will perform Friday and Sunday afternoon. The mariachi music program began more than a year ago and has performed at different schools and in competitions.
Characterizing the essence of Mexican culture, mariachi musicians wear traditional clothing and play a range of instruments from the trumpet to the vihuela, a five-string guitar.
Today, Latino influence has been emerging more and more in television, music and food.
"You see more and more commercials in Spanish," said Alfonso Salais, Everett High School mariachi band coordinator. "More rap artists are using more of the Spanish language in their songs. More restaurants are popping up."
Attending the fiesta since he was a child, Danny Aldaco's father's band played at the first fiesta celebration. Aldaco, a keyboardist for the band, Super Grupo Aldaco, will perform Sunday night.
"It's important to stay in touch with your roots through music," Aldaco said.
The parish and other volunteers have been preparing for the fiesta for six months by practicing their performances, selecting dishes to cook and setting up a large outdoor Catholic Mass service.
People of all generations have organized and attended the fiesta in past.
"Our culture takes pride in family and friendship," Romero said. "We take pride in the traditions that we have."
