CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is back with its 4th annual mariachi festival, Festival de Mariachi to showcase and celebrate mariachi music in the Coastal Bend.
The festival has been expanded to a five-day schedule and kicked off Wednesday, April 3, at the Performing Arts Center (PAC). The festival opened up at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, with performances by Mariachi en la Isla and Alcorta’s Compania de Danza Folklorico in the PAC.
The Corpus Christi Chorale will present an all-Spanish program featuring local mariachi musicians at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, in the PAC. General admission tickets are $5 and free for students.
Mariachi Mariposas, a professional all-female ensemble based in the Rio Grande Valley, will perform in the PAC at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 5. General admission tickets are $15, student and senior tickets are $10.
Festival de Mariachi Festival ends on Sunday, April 7, with a Spanish mass at Corpus Christi Cathedral.
Festival highlights include:
Saturday, April 6
- 11:30 a.m. – Mariachi committee welcome
- 11:45 a.m. – Youth grito contest
- Noon to 1:30 p.m. – High school performances
- 1:30 p.m. – Platica: Mujeres de Mariachi with scholar/artist Aries Limon, who will talk about the history and cultural significance of the traje charro.
- 2:15-4 p.m. – College/university performances
- 4 p.m. – Platica: Mujeres de Mariachi with Maestra Rosie Morales, a highly regarded local music educator and co-founder of Corpus Christi’s first all-female mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Corazon del Mar.
- 4:30 p.m. – Mariachi International (Las Vegas Academy of the Arts)
- 5 p.m. – Adult Grito Contest
- 5:15 p.m. – Mariachi del la Isla (TAMU-CC)
- 8 p.m. – Mariachi 7 Leguas
- All afternoon – art activities, lawn games, bubbles, photobooth opportunities, vendor sales, Mariachi-oke (karaoke), food trucks
- Tickets are $15 for general admission Saturday daytime and $20 for Saturday’s events, including the evening concert; student and senior general admission tickets are $10 for daytime events and $15 for the whole day. Children ages 5 or younger are free.
Sunday, April 7
The festival wraps up with a Spanish Mass at the Corpus Christi Cathedral, 500 N. Upper Broadway St., featuring up to 40 area mariachi musicians at 11 a.m.
For more information, visit the Fourth Annual Festival de Mariachi's website here.
