Program Cover for Year 2000 Conference

Tucson's International Mariachi Conference

The first Mariachi Conference was a combined effort by the City of Tucson, the Tucson Festival Society, Mariachi Cobre and community leaders who wanted to have a cultural event accenting the cultural and ethnic diversities in the community. In 1983, La Frontera Center, Inc., became the sponsor of this event. The Bank One Tucson International Mariachi Conference (TIMC) is a non-profit organization that began as a single event, an evening concert. Now the conference spans an entire week and includes a number of different events: a brunch, an art show, two major concerts, a mass, an all-day outdoor fiesta, educational workshops in mariachi music and folklorico dance, and an artisan exhibit. As the recognized leader of mariachi festivals, TIMC was the first conference to offer Mariachi and Baile Folklorico workshops for students of all ages. The purpose of the Conference is twofold: 1) to raise funds for La Frontera Center (a local behavioral health agency that primarily serves the underserved); and 2) to educate students and the general public on the mariachi tradition. It has become a community event that will continue to keep the tradition of mariachi music alive.

Project documentation includes a 29-page report, mariachi workshop brochures for violin, guitar, voice, and trumpet, a videocassette and audio tape of Festival music, souvenir programs for 1987 and 1991-2000, and a Festival mass brochure.

Originally submitted by: Ed Pastor, Representative (2nd District).

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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.

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