TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It’s a month-long celebration of hispanic culture at the Pima County Courthouse. Every Friday there will be food, art or mariachi. The first event happened on September 16, Mexican Independence Day, with a performance from Las Aguilitas.
Las Aguilitas has a long history at Davis Bilingual Elementary. The mariachi band started in 1982 with Jaime Valenzuela’s father as the director. Forty years later, the Valenzuela family is still leading the group.
“I get to do what I love to do, play my guitar, teach kids and share the music of mariachi with everybody," said Jaime Valenzuela, Mariachi Director for Davis Bilingual Elementary.
Valenzuela’s 10-year-old son hopes to continue the tradition.
“I'm the third generation at my school and I want to be a music teacher just like my dad,” said Jaime Valenzuela Junior.
Hispanic families like this one have ingrained mariachi into the history of tucson, enabling people of all backgrounds to learn more about the music. This includes 8-year-old Olivia Ali-Osman who learned Spanish after watching her first performance.
“I went to a mariachi performance, and I thought it was really cool and I wanted to be in mariachi,” Ali-Osman said.
That’s why Tucson celebrates hispanic heritage month every year: to recognize important traditions and to share them with the community.
“Just so they can realize how beautiful every other culture and tradition is,” Ali-Osman said.
This mariachi performance is the first event of many to come this next month at the Pima County Courthouse.
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