Goshen College alongside  Community Pro-Education, a nonprofit, hosted the Mariachi Festival of Goshen Friday, Sept. 12. The festival took place right outside the Music Center, with over a dozen vendors serving food, refreshments, jewelry and more occupying the lawn. It was a full day of celebrating Hispanic culture. 

Food trucks were parked in the student parking lot and an outdoor stage showcased live mariachi performances. A competition was hosted  featuring six mariachi bands from all over Indiana. 

Five groups represented at the festival were Mariachi Pequeños Gigantes, Mariachi Ardillalachi, Mariachi Los Altos, Mariachi Puebla de Indianapolis and ECo Sistema’s Mariachi ECo.

The judges of the competition were the Los Angles-based, Grammy Award-winning band, Mariachi Los Camperos, who performed at Sauder hall at 7:30 p.m. that night.

GC students, faculty, staff and the broader Goshen community showed up to support the festival throughout the day. The sounds of mariachi music could be heard throughout campus. 

Citlali Hernandez, a senior biochemistry major who is a leader for several campus affinity groups, like Voces Fuertes, said, “I’m just really excited to see a lot of the Latinos having a good time.”

“Right now, there’s just been a lot of bad news. Everybody just feels like there is no hope or a lot of anxiousness,” Hernandez said. She said, it is important for GC to hold events like this because “it’s a way to tell us ‘I know you’re here and we care about you.’” 

First-year students, John Eash-Scott, a theater and film production double major and Miguel Aguilar, a business major, were among the many festival-goers.  

The culture represented in food and music brought them there. “Goshen is a super diverse campus … so it’s nice to have all aspects of our campus represented,” Eash-Scott said.  Aguilar added, “Events like this really just bring us together.”

Not only was GC’s campus brought to life, but the competition also allowed Bloomington, Indiana to shine. The rising presence of mariachi music inspired Iván Maceda, the creator of Mariachi Internacional de Bloomington, to start the group in 2023. They won fourth place in the competition. 

Macenda spoke at the concert, representing the Indiana Mariachi Project, whose mission is to “bring mariachi culture through music in the south of Indiana.” 

Mariachi ECo came in second place at the competition and performed in Sauder Hall alongside the other bands at the beginning of the performance. Unlike other bands, Mariachi ECo features middle and high school students, as well as GC students and community members.

Natalie Pineda Vasquez, a senior music major, sings with Mariachi ECo and was featured as the lead singer for the concert’s second song. Pineda Vasquez shared, “Three minutes before the concert started, I just volunteered myself to sing a song all on my own with all the mariachis behind me … This is an experience I’ll never forget.”

At the concert, GC President Rebecca Stoltzfus spoke to the audience: “How honored we are to be a part of a community that gathers in this way: in peace, in solidarity and in joy to celebrate the cultures that we bring to this community.” 

“This month especially, our Hispanic heritage cultures and our Mexican American neighbors near and far — your music blows our minds this evening. Thank you so much. I want you to know that you are welcome here. We are so glad that you are all part of our community,” said President Stoltzfus.