By Linda Gross

This coming weekend, the Globe community will host one of the largest community events in recent history.  A Tex-Mex Festival in celebration of Cinco de Mayo will be held at the Globe Community Center both Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1. The City of Globe and Los Vecino y Companeros have each put up $16,000 to bring two major bands to the area for this event, along with a host of other entertainment including dancing horses, mariachi bands, Ballet Folklorico dancers and, of course, the crowing of the Queens.   The bands, Tierra and Little Joe y Familia are two of the biggest names in the industry and will be headlining the evening’s entertainment on both Friday and Saturday.

About the Bands…

Tierra, whose sound in a Latin rhythm and blues combo was  voted “Best R&B Vocal Group” by four leading magazines including Billboard. The group started their career in East Los Angeles “… with a blend of rock, pop, jazz, R&B and salsa. The result was a Latin R&B rhythm which produced classics like “Together”, “Gonna Find Her”, “Memories” and “Zoot Suit Boogie”. The band’s quarter century commitment shows a dedication that can only be understood by listening to their smooth and soulful sounds. ” The group has performed at Carnegie Hall, The American Music Awards, and American Bandstand. The second band, Little Joe and La Familia have been entertaining for more than 30 years and helped to pioneer the “Tejano” music, a mix of traditional “norteno” music and country, blues, and rock styles. Awarded a Grammy for “Dies y Seis De Septiembre”, Little Joe is known as the “King of Brown.”

Event Updates….

Matt Jankowski, City Recreation manager, has been working on plans for the event since last Fall. Just one week before the big event, everything seems to be nailed down. There will be approximately 1100 parking places on-site, and two shuttles which will operate between the Casino, several hotels, and the downtown area. The shuttles will enable event goers to park and ride, to-and-from the event. “I’m suggesting to local residents to park on the South end of Broad and take the shuttle from the Depot to the event,” says Jankowski. (Check out the Event Page for complete information on Shuttle stops and timing)

The event opens at noon on Friday and three Mariachi bands from Phoenix and Tucson will perform through the afternoon. And TIERRA opens their first set at 7:30pm.

Mariachi Mexico Nuevo  2 – 4pm  ;

Mariachi Sonido de Mexico 4 – 5:30pm; 

Mariachi Sol Azteca 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Day Two of the event begins with Opening Ceremonies at 11am and an introduction of La Reina de Las Flores Queens and Contestants.

A group calling themselves New Frequency… will start the entertainment for the afternoon and followed by a 2nd performance by Mariachi Sol Ateca, and at 3:30 pm , Javier Reynoso and his Dancing Horses will perform.

Tickets can be purchased on-line, at Globe’s City Hall and at the gate the day of the event. Prices are $50 for a two day pass and $30 for a one day pass. You can find the complete itinerary of both days on GMTeconnect.com/ CincodeMayo.

While You’re in Town…

As for suggestions while you’re in town, you might schedule some time to explore the downtown historic district of Globe, where you can start off with breakfast at Joe’s Broadstreet Grill, right across from the Old Train Depot (one of the shuttle stops), and check out the local shops, antique stores, and coffee shop. Here is a link to walking maps of downtown Globe and Miami. It shows all of the shops and restaurants in the downtown Districts. GMT will be covering the event on Facebook and twitter and we hope to see you here this weekend for Tex-Fest!

When the City Council established a new Parks and Rec position, they did so with the idea that the new position would help bring in revenue to the City. So, last night, a relatively new Parks & Rec Director, Matt Jankowski,  presented his proposal to the City to bring in two major bands for next year’s Cinco De Mayo celebration and take that event to the next level. Working closely with Vice Mayor, Carmen Casillas who heads up Los Vecinos Y Campanero, the proposal involves bringing two Big Name bands to Globe  for two 1-day events. The bands: Little Joe Y Familia (a Tex Mex band) and Tierra (first Latino band to have four songs on the national charts) will bring a new brand of major entertainment to the area and a promise of profits to the City and organizers if all goes according to plan.

Although the event will not take place until Spring of 2010, the City Council was asked to commit last night to  a contract- and deposit- for two big-name bands, in order to secure dates. The proposal involved a $32,000 commitment to bring in Little Joe Y Familia and  Tierra for two 1-day events to be held at the Community Center on April 30th and May 1st to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. The City’s investment is $16,000, while Los Vecinos Y Campanero will put up the other $16,000.

Jankowski explained that he had already lined up verbal agreements from 3 major sponsors totaling $15,000 “or more” to help offset the City’s investment. The sponsors include the County ($5000), Golden Eagle Distributors ($5000 plus- depending on whether they will also be providing the the liquor sales), and Three Amigos Tequila, “an up and coming tequila manufacturer in the Valley” who has agreed to provide between $5-$10,000 according to Jankowski. In addition, “I have 273 commitments for tickets right now,” said Jankowski which translates into another $13,000 plus.

Both the City and Los Vecinos Y Campanero’s will recoup their investment if the event makes at least $32,000. If the event does much better than that, and Jankowski and Casillas believe it will, the City will take any profits above and beyond the costs, while Campanero’s will simply recoup their initial investment.

The tickets which are estimated to run $30 for a one-day pass and $50 for a two-day pass will be sold on-line through an agency and it is hoped people might even buy tickets to give as Christmas.presents. Councilman Lerry Alderman brought up the question of whether there would be any opportunity for people to attend portions of the event for free as they have been used to doing in the past, and while Jankowski said he would look into it, the logistics of splitting the event and managing the crowd who was attending for free and those paying for each day’s event makes that prospect highly unlikely. What is more likely is establishing lower ticket prices for kids under 12.

The event is expected to bring in 4-5000 people and do close to $200,000 in ticket sales according to the organizers.