This Cinco de Mayo, Becky Covarruvias, the incoming chair of the Committee for the Awareness of Mexican-American Culture (CAMAC), wants to provide a reenactment of the Cinco de Mayo celebration to spread awareness of its presence.
The Committee for the Awareness of Mexican-American Culture (CAMAC) is hosting Fiesta 505, a Cinco de Mayo celebration Saturday at the Bush Library.
“We really want to bring in the whole community,” said Covarruvias, a junior political science and sociology major. “We’ll have different festivities, music and dance so we can show the A&M community what Mexican-American culture is really like.”
MSC CAMAC was established to provide awareness of Mexican-American culture, and it has expanded its mission to promote the various Hispanic cultures as well, according to camac.tamu.edu.
Covarruvias said students should come to learn more about the Mexican-American culture that is becoming increasingly important with the rising Hispanic population in Texas.
Gloria Sanchez, a junior psychology major and CAMAC chair of cultural programs, said Fiesta 505 will be lively, with campus organizations providing food and drinks, bands from San Antonio and Waco, high school and community performances and lots of fun and games.
She said there will even be a low rider exhibition, put on by La Firme Low Rider Club from Houston.
“We’re having a jalapeno eating contest – that’s become one of the major events,” said Sanchez. “There’s a girl and guy competition to see how many jalapenos you can eat in two minutes.”
Other festivities will include the Aggieland Mariachis, the bands Los ve la Cumbia and Los Jokerz, and Aggie Salseros, a salsa and merengue dance club.
Gilbert Rios, a senior microbiology major, started Aggie Salseros to combine his passion for salsa dancing with a desire to get people in College Station interested in the Latin music and dancing scene.
“There’s no place to get down as far as Latin music in College Station, so I started teaching some people at Kerri’s Stacked Enchiladas last year,” Rios said.
Rios then rejuvenated an MSC salsa club that was no longer active, and they now have lessons every Wednesday.
He said people started coming regularly, so he made a routine for the group to perform at Fiesta 505.
Sanchez said CAMAC hopes people from all around the community will come Saturday to interact with A&M students and the Hispanic Community.
Fiesta 505 will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free.