The San Diego Union Tribune (
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"FAIR ADDS ‘FIESTA VILLAGE’
Small Mexican town mimicked in appeal to Latino visitors
By Edward Sifuentes5:06 A.M.JUNE 11, 2015
DEL MAR — The San Diego County Fair is working to expand its appeal to the county’s huge Latino community in part by adding a new attraction that highlights Latin American music, crafts and food.
The fair’s new Fiesta Village, northwest of the Grandstand Stage, mimics the atmosphere of a small Mexican town with a colorful 160-foot mural by artist Tom Fagan depicting folkloric dancers, a mariachi band and Aztec pyramids. Opposite the mural is a stage with live entertainment, and nearby are more than a dozen vendors that sell folk art from various parts of Latin America and the Southwestern United States.
“I like it,” said Jorge Talamantes, a Tijuana native now residing in El Cajon, as he walked past the booths with his wife and teenage son. “It brings more diversity of art and culture to the fair.”
The fair has offered Latino attractions for many years at the Plaza de Mexico area and with big-name music acts on its Grandstand Stage. Linda Zweig, a spokeswoman for the fair, said the new Fiesta Village was simply a way to expand on those efforts and feature more Latino vendors and performers.
“We just decided to mix it up a little bit and let it grow, give vendors more room to spread out,” she said.
Each year, about 1.4 million people visit the fair. Zweig said Latinos make up about 25 percent to 30 percent of the fair’s visitors. Many come to see Latin artists in concert, she said. A concert featuring Banda MS, a popular band from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, on Sunday attracted about 10,000 fans.
“It’s a huge demographic,” Zweig said. “We used to have Hispanic Family days on Sundays, but now it has become mainstream.”
Latino artists are not restricted to Sundays anymore, Zweig said.
Mariano Valadez, who runs a folk art booth in Fiesta Village, said he likes the village-theme concept but also worried that not enough people are aware of the new feature, which is next to the fair’s Family Funville near the northern end of a tunnel that leads to the infield.
“There are a lot of people who don’t know where we are,” Valadez said.
Valadez is a Huichol Indian from the Mexican state of Nayarit. His family produces colorful, handmade bracelets, jewelry and home decorations. He said he has participated in the fair for 15 years, usually in the Plaza de Mexico area, where his clients were used to seeing him.
Nearby, Petra Rosales of El Paso, Texas, runs a booth selling handmade porcelain dolls. Each of the dolls stands more than a foot tall and is dressed in traditional dresses representing each of the 31 Mexican states. She said her clients have had a little trouble finding her booth.
“It’s been a little difficult, but they find us,” Rosales said.
The vendors said that hopefully, as more people visit the fair, they will become aware of the village.
Zweig said the fair has highlighted the new area in its marketing materials, including the fair’s guide and its website as a new attraction. She said the village has gotten largely positive reviews from visitors.
“We’re just very excited, because it’s so beautiful and it’s only our third day,” Zweig said. “Here the vendors are the focal point, and the mural is just so beautiful.”