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Sixth annual Oaxacan festival held at San Marcos

By: ROB O'DELL - Staff Writer

SAN MARCOS ---- The sixth annual Guelaguetza celebration on Sunday was all about community ---- the Oaxacan community, that is. Held at Cal State San Marcos, the celebration of the culture, music and food from the Mexican state of Oaxaca was the largest festival to date.

Organizers said the previous record of 5,000 attendees was surpassed by 2 p.m., a little more than halfway through the festival.

"Judging by the amount of people, I think it is the largest ever," said Alejandra Ricardez, the president of the Coalition of Indigenous Communities of Oaxaca, which helped put on the celebration.


Ricardez said the festival helps create a bridge between the indigenous people from Oaxaca and people from other parts of the world, while also giving American-born children of Oaxacan parents the chance to rediscover their roots.

"We are able to tell children, this is were you came from," she said. "It really creates such an incredible space for the North County community to come together... and for us to teach them about our identity and who we are."

The family festival is modeled after a yearly festival held in Oaxaca City in southern Mexico each July, when members of the area's 23 indigenous groups come together to share dancing, music, food and dress. The Guelaguetza celebration is named after the Zapotec word for "offering." Zapotec is one of several indigenous Oaxacan languages. The festival was originally a ceremony held each year to pacify the gods in return for sufficient rain and a bountiful harvest, according to the festival's organizers.

The festival is hosted by Cal State San Marcos and is sponsored by the coalition in collaboration with Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, a student group better known as MEChA. Ricardez said this year's festival was the sixth held at San Marcos.

Konane Martinez, the community relations director for the coalition, said the festival promotes a sense of community while showing how large the Oaxacan community actually is.

"It's great to see all the people from Oaxaca really come together," Martinez said. "This shows how large the community really is."

Omar Corona, a volunteer for the festival, said the festival highlights the uniqueness of Oaxacan culture. He said Oaxacans have a way of relating to one another that is different than that of people in other cultures.

Corona said he also enjoys the native Oaxacan food.

Many festival participants took the chance to grab tlyudas, large corn tortillas covered with different Mexican foods. Tlyudas are common in the central valley in Oaxaca, Martinez said.

Aside from the vendors selling food, clothing and trinkets, community and business groups used the festival to inform people of their services. The festival also had a large stage for traditional dancers along with two bands.

Adela Martinez said the dancing was one of the main reasons she came to the festival this year after having to miss the last few.

"It's exciting to see the different dances, and the food is great," she said. "I love watching the dance groups."