Fiesta Gonzales will celebrate Hispanic heritage, city’s founding

The City of Gonzales will celebrate the conjunction of Fiesta Patrias and the 200th anniversary of the town’s founding with a big Fiesta Gonzales Music Festival, BBQ Cookoff and Car Show this September at the JB Wells Arena.

The city is joining forces with Salazar Promotions to bring five announced Tejano music acts to the spacious arena, located at 2301 County Road 197, Gonzales, on Saturday, Sept. 13.

These include Amanda Solis and her Selena Experience, Ricky Naranjo y Los Gamblers (who played Come and Take It three years ago), Los Palominos, Los Cadetes de Linares con Homero Guerrero III and Siggno. More could possibly be added, organizers said.

Presale tickets are now online for $20 for general admission, $30 for floor tickets and $50 for VIP at www.misterboleton.com or www.topboxtickets.com. Kids 12 and under can get in for free. You can call 361-237-0351 for more information about the concert.

The car show is being produced by JL Events 361 and for more information about how to enter, you can contact Lencho Ramos at 361-489-7333. Registration opens at 9 a.m. with judging at noon and awards announced at 3 p.m. The entry fee is $30 per entry.

There will also be food vendors on site with many different choices for every palate as well as other attractions that will create a family atmosphere that is safe and fun.

Fiesta Patrias translates to Patriotic Holidays in Mexico and refers to one of five public holidays which are celebrated. The timing of this particular fiesta coincides with the Grito de Dolores and the Diez y Seis Anniversary of Mexican independence from Spain.

It commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s Grito de Dolores, which took place on Sept. 16, 1810, in the village of Dolores near Guanajuato, when the priest rang his church’s bells and called for an end to Spanish rule in Mexico. Mexican Independence Day is typically celebrated from the evening of Sept. 15 through Sept. 16.

Gonzales was founded in 1825 as the capital of the Green DeWitt Colony and played a vital role in the Texas Revolution as the site of where the First Shot was fired as well as the starting point for the Runaway Scrape.