Brownsville’s Charro Days celebration and Sombrero Festival begin Thursday, but UTRGV will begin festivities a day earlier with Charreada.
The Student Union will host Charreada from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday on the Student Union lawn on the Brownsville campus.
Sergio Martinez, associate director of the Student Union, said Charreada, which will feature performances by the UTRGV Mariachi Aztlán and Mariachi 7 Leguas, will showcase an event that is the first of its kind at UTRGV.
“This year, we are doing something special,” Martinez said. “We partnered with Vaqueros y Charros Unidos. They are a local equestrian club, and they will be bringing in some dancing horses.”
Students can participate in games such as lotería, cornhole and bowling, as well as a huapango dancing and elote-eating contest.
Student organizations will sell snacks and drinks, including nachos, Hot Cheetos with cheese and aguas frescas, during the event to raise funds.
“We are happy to have our students [be a] part of that, celebrating not only with our event but the events that are happening in the city,” Martinez said about the Charro Days Fiesta, which began in 1938, according to its website.
Karen Dorado, director of Special Programs and Community Relations, said UTRGV, apart from being an official sponsor, will be in attendance for the entirety of Sombrero Festival.
“What we do is, we coordinate to have different departments go out there and help table,” Dorado said. “But, our primary focus is to focus on promoting the university, engaging with the community [and] inviting community members to take photos with the inflatable [Vaquero mascot].”
She said Charro Days, which runs Thursday through Sunday, is a long-standing tradition in the city of Brownsville.
“It’s an annual fiesta conceived in [1938] that commemorates the Mexican heritage of the area on both sides of the Rio Grande,” Dorado said.
She said UTRGV will participate at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Grand International Parade on Elizabeth Street, featuring the Ballet Folklórico and the Vaquero Marching Band and Drill Team.
Sombrero Festival was created to “make Charro Days bigger and better,” said Michelle Garcia, chief marketing officer for Sombrero Festival. Garcia said food, music and people during the celebration is what enhances South Texas culture.
She said the planning starts during the previous year’s summer.
“We work, probably, 10 to 11 months of the year on the festival on different aspects,” Garcia said.
She said watching generations of families walking around the festival is part of the reason many volunteers keep coming back, regardless of the amount of work that goes into it.
“I get to see the crowd from the stage, so every year it’s memorable to see that crowd,” Garcia said. “Just the impact that crowd has when you’re looking out there and all the people that are watching the show that you helped put together, that’s a memorable moment.”
She said the people who work for the Sombrero Festival organization are all volunteers. Any organization that volunteers through and for the festival gets a donation back for the time that they helped.
“There [are] groups that help us pick up the trash,” Garcia said. “There [are] so many parts of the festival and all of those organizations volunteer their time with us.”
For a complete list of the Charro Days Festival events, visit charrodaysfiesta.com/copy-of-images-1.
The Sombrero Festival will open at 1 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday, with free admission for the first three hours. The festival will take place at Washington Park, 700 E. Madison St.
For the full list of Sombrero Festival events, performances and ticket information, visit sombrerofestival.com/events-1.
