Best Mexican Musical Event: Guadalajara International Mariachi Festival
Tara A. Spears
Whoa, talk about a party! The annual celebration of mariachi music is 10 days of the best mariachi performers. The 28th edition of the International Meeting of Mariachi and Charraria in Guadalajara, Jalisco is a cultural festival dedicated to disseminating and preserving mariachi music and showcasing the cultural related spinoff of mariachi music, the mounted of Charraria. The Charraria is considered the only Mexican national sport. Encompassing two weekends, this year’s festival is Sept 10-19, 2021.
This uniquely Mexican music originated in the 1600s in Jalisco. A traditional mariachi band contains the following parts: violins and vocals, the rhythm section is the harmony, and the guitarrón is the bass. The full mariachi band has six to eight violins, two to three trumpets, one vihuela, one guitar, and one guitarrón. Another component of the mariachi experience is the very distinctive wardrobe that is both fancy and romantic. Because the music is so intense a dance troupe typically accompanies the musicians. Perhaps the great appeal of mariachi music is that it appeals to multiple senses: mariachi music cast a spell on the listener.
Part of the mariachi charm is the range of vocals and the song content. The unamplified voices of Mariachi vocalists can have many different styles. The bolero is a romantic style with a soft touch and a suave voice, the huapango, which employs a lot of falsetto, mixing between registers, and flipping between the head and chest registers, and the son jalisiense which involves an aggressive style of vocalization. Because Mariachis do not typically use amplification for the vocal or instrumental music, the voices need to be powerful to be heard over the accompanying instruments.
The Mariachi Festival begins with a parade through the main streets and continues with multiple concerts in various theaters and parks throughout the city. In 2021 the parade has a different route for the bands, floats, dancers, equestrian participants (check official map.) While there are several free to the public events, there are also spectacular ticketed performances such as the Galas del Mariachi in the majestic Degollado Theater. 
According to Milenio, the XXVII edition of the International Meeting of Mariachi and Charrería will be broadcast virtually from September 14 to 20. The festival activities is expected to be viewed by about 38 million people because it will be broadcast through a television station in 15 cities throughout Mexico and on social networks announced. Note the virtual version is aired after the life performances.
This festival presents large-scale events and is attended by personalities from the artistic, cultural and political world of national and international level. The events take place in various venues of the city. There are great concerts, parades, Mariachi Galas and folkloric dancers that fill the beautiful city. Mariachis arrive from all over the country and the world to have a chance to perform this much loved music genre. In addition, the “Charro Championship” is celebrated, which will have dozens of teams from all over Mexico.
The International Meeting of Mariachi and Charrería began to be held for the first time in 1994. The festival was a proposal by Don René Rivial León, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Guadalajara. Since then, the best mariachis in Mexico have participated and huge crowds travel to the city to experience the cream of the mariachi performers live.
To obtain the schedule, event tickets go to social media www.es-es.facebook.com/EncuentroMariachi or online http://www.mariachi-jalisco.com.mx/
If you only visit Guadalajara once, do it during the Mariachi Festival!
