San Antonio is celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month in many ways, according to the Department of Arts and Culture’s Debbie Racca-Sittre.
“This year, we're doing a month-long virtual celebration of Hispanic Heritage. Normally we would do a lot of different events live, but we have moved this all virtually,” she said. “We're having all the same events and more on our city of San Antonio website, YouTube channel and on TVSA.”
The 6 p.m. Saturday online celebration will feature Mariachi music.
“The virtual event will feature performances from Mariachi Los Galleros de San Antonio and music from the student mariachi programs at Somerset High School, San Antonio Mariachi Academy, Burbank High School, Jefferson High School, Southwest Legacy High School, John Jay and Hawthorne Academy.”
Like band, soccer or other electives, most San Antonio high school students can opt to take Mariachi. This Mariachi festival has a 15-year history of providing student performances to parents, friends and all interested. With COVID-19, the city thought about canceling the celebration altogether, but then decided against that.
“It's a way for these young people to showcase their work, and it's very important that it's done this year,” she said. “They work very hard to learn the craft of Mariachi music.”
The performances were shot at multiple locations provided by The San Antonio River Authority, which is a project partner.
