San Jose festival honors memory of mariachi Carla Diaz

The sounds of mariachi music are returning to San Jose this weekend with the inaugural Fiesta del Mariachi at the Mexican Heritage Plaza on Saturday.

The festival is dedicated to the memory of Carla “Patita” Diaz, a San Jose mariachi who was an important part of creating the mariachi program at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. A talented musician whose parents were also mariachis, Diaz died last October at age 46.

“For the School of Arts and Culture at MHP, Carla ‘Patita’ Diaz is familia, and we couldn’t think of a better way to honor Patita’s contributions to the mariachi world, to our arts education program, and to the local community here in East San Jose, then by kicking off our inaugural Fiesta Del Mariachi in her honor,” said Jessica Paz-Cedillos, co-executive director of the School of Arts and Culture at MHP.

Diaz was a vocalist and violinist with Mariachi Santa Cecilia, Mariachi Mujer 2000 and Mariachi Azteca de Pato Diaz, the group started by her father in 1980. She also danced with Los Mestizos and Los Lupeños de San Jose.

The outdoor concert Saturday night will feature two female mariachi supestars, Lupita Infante and Nydia Rojas, as well as Bay Area favorites Mariachi Azteca and Mariachi Tapatio. Students who took part in the Fiesta del Mariachi workshop held in advance of the concert will perform as well. It starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at www.schoolofartsandculture.org.

While this is the inaugural Fiesta del Mariachi, it’s far from San Jose’s first event of its kind. The original round of Mariachi and Mexican Heritage festivals started back in 1992 and continued at various venues into the mid-2010s, by which time the event had grown and become known as VivaFest — drawing huge crowds to SAP Center. Well, no matter the name or the place, we’re just happy to have mariachi back in San Jose.

STAYCATION ON THE STAGE: This is the season of summer vacations, but if you’re trying to avoid airport hassles and high gas prices, you can still be transported away from home by visiting a number of stages in downtown San Jose this weekend.

Over at the Hammer Theatre Center, the Lyric Theatre is kicking off the San Jose Light Opera Festival with Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic “The Pirates of Penzance,” on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and “Light Opera Around the World,” a showcase of songs from the Americas, Europe and Asia, Saturday night. That’s followed next weekend by Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” which has five performances July 29-Aug. 5, and a few more presentations of “Pirates.” The full schedule and tickets are online at www.hammertheatre.com.

And if you like the idea of an aquatic outing, CMT has two shows set “under the sea” at the Montgomery Theater this weekend. The younger Rising Stars performers are wrapping up a run of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” on Saturday through Tuesday, while the Mainstage cast goes even deeper (and funnier) with “The SpongeBob Musical,” opening July 22 and running through next weekend. Check it out at www.cmtsj.org.

Finally, you can take a trip into the compelling world of Alison Bechdel with City Lights Theater Company’s production of “Fun Home,” the hit musical based on her graphic novel. The show, directed by City Lights Executive Artistic Director Lisa Mallette, has received rave reviews, and you can see why for yourself through Aug. 21. Details are at www.cltc.org.

FRONTIER VILLAGE MEMORIES: My column on the new beer from San Jose’s Narrative Fermentations named after Frontier Village brought back lots of memories for San Jose resident Hazel Chirco — and there’s even a beer connection. Her husband, Joe Chirco, worked for Falstaff Brewery, which hosted a barbecue for employees at the western-themed amusement park every year.