Hollywood star Rosario Dawson and Melissa Barrera will co-host this week’s inaugural edition of Cinco de Mayo LA, a virtual festival featuring music, fashion and comedy and aiming at raising funds for California farmworkers. The event will also be broadcast live.
Slated for Sat., May 29 from 6 to 9 p.m., the fest’s music headliners include reggaeton artist Jay Wheeler, norteña group La Original Banda Limon, urbano star Rafa Pabon, pop singer Tefi Valenzuela and L.A.-based band La Santa Cecilia. Other confirmed performers are Dafne, Diego Latoo, El Chapo de Sinaloa, Grupo G, ICC, Jessi Uribe, Jawn Darko, Lady Vixxen, Los Dioses del Ritmo, Los Wizzards, Melanie Pfirrman, Paola Jara, and Yanet Guadalupe.
A well-known “artivist” and movie star, Dawson is a co-founder of Voto Latino, a nonprofit that encourages young Latinos to vote and get politically involved, and has also supported various causes from the environment to farmworkers. Coincidentally, she was cast as Dolores Huerta in the 2014 biopic Cesar Chavez about the late labor union leader, which won her a special achievement Alma Award. Her film and TV credits include Sin City, Rent, Seven Pounds and the series Jane the Virgin. She will star in the upcoming series Ahsoka Tano, a spinoff of the series The Mandalorian.
Barrera, who got her start in the U.S. as one of the leads on Starz’s Vida. Soon after the series was canceled, Barrera landed the lead in the upcoming musical feature, In The Heights, based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical. The Mexico-born artist starred in telenovelas like Siempre Tuya Acapulco and Tanto Amor before coming to the U.S. She also co-stars in the upcoming installment of the horror franchise Scream.
The fest’s fashion segment is curated by Adriana Pavon, a Mexican designer and founder of México Cultura y Orgullo, a nonprofit initiative supporting indigenous artists.
Cinco de Mayo LA will also feature a comedy skit by MexicanGueys, an L.A.-based duo composed by cousins Jairo Orozco and Bryan Rojo of the podcast Spilling the Frijoles.
The fest will also include mixology segments and recipes, highlight the importance of getting the COVID vaccine and spotlight In the Heights, the movie.
A production of Brilla Media, the event is presented by the Latino Community Foundation and will raise funds for the California Rural Legal Assistance, a legal aid nonprofit serving farmworkers.
“Cultura, Musica y Arte – it’s the medicine we all need right now, and that’s why LCF is honored to support the Cinco de Mayo LA Festival,” says Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, LCF’s CEO. “As we celebrate, let’s also make sure our loved ones get vaccinated. We miss those fuerte abrazos!”
The festival will be broadcast on the VMe national network, Viva Live TV’s OTT platform and streamed on the Facebook fan pages of Spanish Broadcast System stations like New York’s La Musica Mega 97.9 and 93.1 Amor, Los Angeles’s 97.9 La Raza and Mega 96.3, Miami’s El Zol 106.7, Zeta 92 and Ritmo 95.7, San Francisco’s 93.3 La Raza, Maria Marin Live and Cinco de Mayo L.A., among others.
Organizers hope the fest will also be am in-person in the streets of Los Angeles next year in addition to its webcasting.
Other festival sponsors are Converse, WSS, Disney and Pixar’s upcoming animated film Luca, the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino and MyCajita.
Strategic partners, producers and media allies for this year’s Cinco de Mayo L.A. festival include EsTiempo, Latin Heat Media, Viva Live TV, The Cerro Group, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Dustelli Music.
For more information, visit https://www.cincodemayola.com.
Featured Photo: Melissa Barrera (Credit: Barrera IG) and Rosario Dawson (Credit: ABC)