L os Angeles has its one-day Mariachi USA concert at the Hollywood Bowl, an event that has been going 36 years strong this year.

Students in the guitar class at La Frontera’s Tucson International Mariachi Conference at the Tucson Convention Center on April 19, 2023.

Albuquerque will host its 34th annual Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque in July. San Antonio is right behind them when it hosts its 31st Mariachi Extravaganza in December.

But those events have nothing on the granddaddy of all of them, the Tucson International Mariachi Conference.

It’s back this weekend for year 43 with five days of mariachi and folklorico performances, workshops and celebrations through Sunday, April 27.

Young mariachi musicians are a big part of the annual Tucson International Mariachi Conference, which returns this weekend.

It’s the oldest continuously operating mariachi event in the U.S., said Alfonso Dancil, chairman of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference board of directors.

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“Even during COVID, we offered virtual workshops. We didn’t have any events, but the conference is all about the workshops,” he explained.

He noted that the mission since the conference launched in 1982 has been to keep the culture of mariachi music and folklorico dance going “not only with the young, but with the community.”

Folklorico dancers work on their steps in the Level 2 class, getting ready for the evening’s Armando C. Gonzales Student Showcase at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, May 2, 2024, Tucson, Az.

“And that’s what the community events are all about,” he said.

The conference holds several performances, including the cornerstone Espectacular Concert on Friday, April 25, at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall with the all-female Mariachi Femenil Nuevo Tecalitlán from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The ensemble has been around since 2013, when Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán director Ángel Martinez launched it as a complement to his male ensemble.

Both groups are headlining Friday’s concert, which also will feature folklorico dancers, and will participate in the conference workshops, Dancil said.

Nearly 40% of conference participants are female, Dancil said, which is why “women in mariachi” is the unofficial theme of this year’s event.

Dancil said as many as 1,200 participants from throughout the Southwest, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Colorado and New Mexico will take part in the workshops. Classes will be held at the Tucson Convention Center and venues on its campus, including the Music Hall and Leo Rich Theater.

Participants range in age as young as 8 in the beginners class, where they are required to have some musical experience and be able to read basic music; through advanced, which includes high-schoolers and college students. Registration is ongoing through Thursday.

Folklorico dancing is a big part of the annual Tucson International Mariachi Conference, taking over downtown this weekend.

The 2025 conference kicked off on Wednesday, April 23, with the El Mariachi Canta Vocal Competition at the MSA Annex featuring the three finalists in the genres of Son, Huapango, Ranchero and Bolero.

On Thursday, April 24, the spotlight turns to nearly two dozen youth ensembles, mariachi and folklorico, from grade school through college participating in the Armando C. Gonzales Student Showcase at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.

Tucson is the birthplace of youth mariachi with its storied Los Changuitos Feos that started in 1964. Since then, mariachi has become part of the curriculum throughout Tucson Unified School District, including the south-side Pueblo High School whose mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Aztlan de Pueblo High School, has gone on to national acclaim under the leadership of John Contreras.

Alum of the Pueblo program went on in December 2021 to form Mariachi Nuevo Azteca, a professional ensemble that has performed around the country.

Ambar Duran, center, rehearses during the trumpet class at La Frontera’s Tucson International Mariachi Conference at the Tucson Convention Center on April 19, 2023.

“Our music is a celebration of culture and tradition, and we are proud to share our passion with the world,” the group said on its website .

Finalists in Thursday’s mariachi and folklorico competitions will perform at the daylong Fiesta Garibaldi on Saturday, April 26, at Jácome Plaza, 101 N. Stone Ave., where more than 20 mariachi and ballet folklorico ensembles including several from the youth showcase will perform from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older and children 8-18 through tucsonmariachi.org . Children 7 and under get in free.

The 43rd Tucson International Mariachi Conference ends Sunday with a special mariachi mass at St. Augustine Cathedral. Last year, youth mariachi were featured.

The 2025 conference ends with a mariachi mass at noon Sunday, April 27, at St. Augustine Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Ave. The mass will feature liturgical music by a mariachi band, folklorico performers and a solemn celebration performed by the cathedral’s priest, followed by the release of white doves.

Friday’s Espectacular Concert begins at 7 p.m. at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets start at $50 through ticketmaster.com .

Olivia Ali-Osman works on her technique during a harp workshop, one of dozens of classes and sessions in the TCC for the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, in 2024. This Saturday features the day-long Fiesta de Garibaldi at Jácome Plaza, from from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with groups and artists scheduled to perform nearly non-stop.

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