Santa Ana is celebrating Chicano heritage on Sunday, hosting a festival with headline performances by iconic 1960s Latin rock and soul bands Thee Midniters and El Chicano.
The festival, in its fourth year, will also feature a classic car cruise, community art displays, activities for families and more from 2 to 7 p.m. at Centennial Park.
Organizers describe the celebration as a free, family-friendly event that honors the culture, history and contributions of the Chicano community, which has maintained a longstanding presence in the city. The festival also coincides with Santa Ana’s recognition of August as Chicano Heritage Month — in 2021, the city became the first in Orange County to make the recognition official.
“I’m really excited that people are going to experience this in their backyard. They’re not seeing cover bands, they’re seeing the original artists. That to me, you know, is the celebration of Mexican American history. The music that these artists represent tells stories of resistance, stories of protest, stories of overcoming injustice,” Santa Ana Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez, who helped organize the event, said.
The festival will also host leaders from the Chicano Civil Rights Movement as guests, including Vickie Castro, a founding member of the Brown Berets and Young Chicanos For Community Action who played a key role in organizing the 1968 East Los Angeles high school walkouts. Also invited are members of the Guzmán family, one of four families that helped end school segregation in California with the landmark Mendez v. Westminster case.
The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. with a traditional Aztec dance by the group Danza Azteca Xochipilli, followed by a car cruise departing West Centennial Road at 1:50 p.m. to officially open the event. A designated “kid-zone” will be available with family-themed activities, along with food and several cultural exhibits.
Guests can bring their own lawn chairs, blankets and canopies, organizers said, and enjoy a picnic with live music hosted by radio personality Old School Becky Lu. The musical line-up includes performances by the Desperados, Diamond Ortiz and Zackey Force Funk, and a 1940s-inspired rhythm and blues group, Pachuco Jose y Los Diamantes.
The classic cars will also be on display for the duration of the event.