Mariachi Festival – Guadalajara, Mexico from Josh Meltzer on Vimeo.
Guadalajara is well-known as the birthplace of Mariachi music, and this week, the annual festival is happening all over the city…or at least so says the Mariachi Festival website.
On Wednesday, Missy and spent almost two hours traveling to a southern barrio looking for what was supposed to be a verbena, or street concert/party, but found nothing. We wandered around the neighborhood asking four different groups of people if there was a concert of Mariachis that night, and we all got the same answer. “Not in this neighborhood, no way.”
So, we were redirected by some older men to take the 52A or C bus back to the city center where we would surely find the Mariachi Festival, but to make sure on the way to the bus stop, to avoid this street or that street, which would be a little more dangerous for the gringos to walk. OK, so back we went.
In the end we found a fantastic concert going on in a lobby of a government building. The only problem was the group of 5-6 serious looking police officers standing at the door. I assumed it was an invitation-only concert, but when I asked the officer if it was, he asked me where I was from. When I told him the U.S. he waved us in. So, we enjoyed the last four or so songs, which were loud, powerful and fun. The Reyes de Mexico were on stage and I ran around trying to make some images quickly, and recorded a little audio of the concert in this piece above.
When we left, we wondered why it was so easy to get in, I suppose they want tourists to see that part of Guadalajara. Next time, I’ll see what happens if I say I’m from Honduras?
