There’s more to see and do at Riverfest’s Hispanic event, Fiesta Del Rio, this year
Riverfest’s Fiesta Del Rio event will look a lot different this year.
Friday’s event will have much more live music and food vendors than in years past, said Jenny Venn, director of marketing and communications for Wichita festivals.
The event, which was typically held at night for a couple of hours, will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. this year.
“Riverfest is all about community, and we can’t certainly celebrate our community without our Hispanic community members being a part of it,” she said. “They’re a really big component. ...We really wanted to have an impressive event to honor and celebrate that component.”
With the expanded time comes more opportunities for bands, such as Grupo Marca Ejecutiva, a Wichita-based group that formed roughly a year ago.
The band
The band has three members: Angel Granados plays guitar and sings; Luis Solis plays requinto guitar and sings backup vocals; and Diego Perez, plays bass guitar.
Solis, who played in a previous band, said the group came to be after he met Granados and Perez one night, and they played a song together. He said they had instant chemistry.
“The first time we hanged out together and played a song, right afterward we said that we need to make this happen,” Solis said.
Perez says the band got the opportunity to play at Riverfest by winning a contest held by Mexican radio station Radio Lobo 106.5 in February.
Solis says the group found out they won more than they expected.
“We had signed up for the Radio Lobo contest and played against other groups and singers. We just went for fun. It’s good promotion and we can be on the radio. ... So we said, ‘Let’s just try it.’ We won the contest and the guy from Radio Lobo gave us $1,000 for radio promotion and tells us, ‘Hey, you guys want to perform at the Riverfest?’
“It was just out of nowhere. ... We really just expected to play a couple songs and talk to some people at the contest, and now we’re going to be playing at Riverfest,” Granados said.
Having Fiesta Del Rio expand to an all-day event is important because it allows Wichita’s Hispanic community to come together and celebrate, band members said.
“It allows the Hispanic community to bond because at the end of the day, we have to stay with our people, you know, in helping one another,” Solis says.
“Everyone there comes together to listen to music they like as a whole. Even though a lot of people don’t know each other, it’s the music that brings all of us together,” Granados said.
The schedule
Here’s what’s happening Friday:
▪ Mercadito (Hispanic market), 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., inside Century II
▪ Concerts, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., main stage
The concert lineup includes performances from DJ Tino Morales, Grupo Marca Ejecutiva, Mariachi Arraigo de America, Bryndis X Siempre and Grupo Pesado.
Venn said festivalgoers will be able to get into Fiesta Del Rio with their general admission Riverfest buttons.