Fiesta Alameda bringing Latin culture to Island for third year Sunday

The outdoor afternoon festival at Radium Runway on the city's former naval base will feature music, dance, crafts, food and beverages.

By lifting up community, broadcasting cultural authenticity and promising a host of family-friendly features that outdoor festival enthusiasts adore, the third annual Fiesta Alameda hits all the right notes. Presented courtesy of Alameda’s nonprofit West End Arts District, the festival from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday (westendartsdistrict.org/fiesta-alameda) celebrates the Latin music, dance, crafts, food, beverages, culture and spirit in the Bay Area.

“Almost everything about the festival is driven by the performers selected each year,” says Tara Pilbrow, the nonprofit’s executive director. “Our first year, it was held in November and it rained, but 1,000 people came out nonetheless.

“We realized a lot of these bands have a strong fan base from all around the East Bay. We found that those performers were key to the Latin scene in the area and caused people to be excited to see them and to travel from all over to the Island (of Alameda).”

In 2023, attendance tripled to 3,000, a number Pilbrow expects will be repeated this year in the festival’s venue at Radium Runway on Alameda’s former U.S. Navy base.

“We’re now doing this in the summer, so the numbers could go higher. And even if it happens to be a warm day, the Island breeze is like outdoor air conditioning.”

In addition to the attraction of four bands and four dance groups performing interchangeably and introduced by emcee Per Sia, a Latinx nonbinary youth educator, the festival has several ticketed and unticketed options that have proven popular, Pilbrow says.

Visitors with admission to the VIP Zone ($75) receive two drink tickets, access to a private bar, reserved seating in a shaded area and an opportunity to support multiple year-round community events and programs organized and hosted by the West End Arts District (WEAD). One step back from the VIP level, advance beverage packages ($40) provide 15 drink tickets, a savings of $5 off at-festival prices.

The food court offers Latin cuisine such as tortas, tacos, churros, empanadas, pupusas and more. Pilbrow says an advisory committee that has grown each year provides vital recommendations and connections to the local network of Latinx-owned food and beverage businesses.

“The committee is made up of people from cultural centers who come for one evening to exchange ideas of ways to make the event relevant to the community,” she said. “We had eight people sharing the jewels of their knowledge about the food and the performers while enjoying drinks.

“This year, we had a strong desire to integrate in the programming more people who teach their art form year-round. That way, we present a pathway for people to continue learning and staying involved in Latin culture. The festival’s not just a one-off event, it’s an entry (point) to feed into the network.”

That network includes returning and new vendors and sponsors that the festival relies on for fiscal balance. Pilbrow said the support is especially essential during these early years of the festival, when beverage ticket sales have yet to result in the profit margins achieved by WEAD’s primary fall fundraising event, Blues, Brews & BBQ (westendartsdistrict.org/blues-brews-and-bbq).

“The city of Alameda is returning for a second time with a grant from the public arts commission that’s wonderful,” she said. “Building 43 Winery comes every year and provides all the wine, and Del Cielo Brewery is a brewery in downtown Martinez.

“They’re both Latino-owned. Del Cielo’s michelada is hugely popular and what everybody wants to drink. It’s like a Bloody Mary, with a tomato base, lime juice and spices but made with Mexican beer (instead of vodka).”

A new vendor this year is BrightLife Kids. Fully funded by the state of California through the parent organization BrightLine, the branch-off program developed in collaboration with CalHOPE and the Department of Health Care Services provides free lifestyle and mental health support for families with kids up to age 12 (hellobrightline.com/brightlifekids).

“They’re sponsoring the Kids Zone and fit exactly with our interest in ongoing offerings. They partner with community groups like ours, and families can learn about free educational programs they might want in the future.”

BrightLife Kids services are available in English and Spanish. Pilbrow says that’s just one element reflective of the overall festival programming led by a Latinx board member and that authenticity is one reason the growing advisory committee is important and exciting.

“We had about five advisors the first year, and this year, we had eight. Half of our five-member board has Latinx origins, so we have strong representation. We always want to give voice to the community before we even begin to deal with logistics or funding.”

While parents might find the information on Bright Life Kids useful, children at an outdoor festival just want to have fun. For that, there’s no shortage of activities. Alameda-based Rhythmix Cultural Works hosts the crafts and will lead kids to make alebrijes (Mexican spirit animals); flower crowns inspired by the artwork of Frida Kahlo, and “take & shake” maracas.

A crew from the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum will be on-site as visitors of all ages explore the cockpit of an F8 Crusader. The aircraft was used as U.S. Navy fighter starting in the 1950s and is the predecessor to today’s supersonic carrier-based airplanes.

Pilbrow is a choreographer and performing artist, which has her highly energized about the festival’s centerpiece. Asked to speak about one or two artists, she says, “Only two? That’s so hard … but I guess I could say the Grupo Folklorico Tlapalli, a ballet folkloric that comes out of Livermore and is wonderful to have. They bring in a mixed-age ensemble. It’s visually colorful and offers that community feel in that they have more experienced performers appearing along with the students they teach.”

Among the music acts, she highlights Petate, an Oakland-based band.

“They’re young professional musicians, and there are 12 of them, so they’ll pack some energy. Their songs have lyrics in both English and Spanish and they blend indie, Latin and fusion in cumbia (a type of Latin American music and dancing).”

To close the festival on a high point, seven-piece salsa group VibraSÓN will send people away dancing.

“They’re always amazing, but so is the army of about 50 volunteers we have, some of whom stay behind and help with breaking down the festival. An event with 3,000 people coming to the Island is a logistical challenge, and they make sure everyone is comfortable and safe,” Pilbrow said.

Lou Fancher is a freelance writer. Reach her at lou@johnsonandfancher.com.