Fiesta Celebration Honors the Church and the Family

After several months of planning, the San Salvador Church’s Fiesta Committee kick-off this year’s two-day fiesta over the Labor Day weekend with the theme of My Family is the Church – Mi Familia es la Iglesia. “The fiesta brought together family and friends not only as attendees but, most importantly, as participants in the various food booths and the day’s entertainment,” shared Terry Garcia-Yanez, Fiesta Chair. The Labor Day weekend festivities were held at 178 W. “K” Street, Colton. On Saturday, Sept. 5, the entertainment itinerary included a mariachi band, Ballet de Guadalupe folklorico dancers, and live evening dance music by the popular “Smooth Groove” dance band. A new addition this year was a junior royalty competition and the candidates with the most raffle tickets sold were crowned the weekend’s king, queen, and princesses. “Our fiestas have always been a fun, family event”, shared Father Bonifacio. “On Sunday, Sept. 6, Aztec dancer performed, leading us to a mariachi mass with Aztecas de Oro on the fiesta grounds. The Mariachi band officially began the second day of festivities at 1 p.m., featuring many favorite and traditional songs and music.” Other fiesta entertainment on Sunday included singers from the Los Angeles area, Grupo Folklorico Multicultural, Los Vijitos dancers, Ballet de Guadalupe, and Larry Tarin and the Flamingo’s evening dance group. The pride of the church is the folklorico group, known as Grupo Folklorico Multicultural. It is comprised of not only the youths, but also the parish’s mothers, who carry on a tradition by teaching their children, ranging from elementary to high school age, unique Mexican regional dances. Many of the beautiful and colorful costumes worn by the performers were personally sewn by the youths’ mothers and grandmothers. A variety of traditional Mexican foods were featured such as street tacos, enchilada plates, corn on a cob, hot dogs, snow cones, beer garden, and also a children’s corner with many games, prizes, and jumpers. Proceeds will go toward the daily church expenses.