Celebrating Mexican and Latino heritage and arts is what the Yuma area does best, and never was there a better opportunity than this.
The Mexican Consulate in Yuma and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are collaborating to host "October Moons: Bohemian Night," a cultural festival consisting of poetic readings and art exhibitions as well as musical and theatrical performances. All proceeds will go to LULAC's scholarship fund.
The two organizations are hosting this event together in hopes of benefiting from each other. LULAC's scholarship foundation will be celebrating its tenth year of helping the local youth receive a higher education, while the Mexican Consulate is helping out as a part of its annual celebration of migrant poets.
In the past nine years LULAC has awarded more than 300 scholarships to high school student all over the South Yuma County.
"We started with only 12 scholarships," said LULAC Scholarship Chairperson Monica Castro, adding, "This past April we gave out 43."
"The consulate will provide more funding for the scholarship program, and the LULAC organization will bring in a larger audience to the festival," noted Manuel Cuen, spokesperson of the Mexican Consulate in Yuma.
Local LULAC President Leticia Aragon said it seemed like a good idea because of the attractiveness of the event.
The cultural program is designed to attract a large audience with the idea that poetry can be a great show. Among all the talent October Moons promises to display is Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcon, bilingual poet Logan Phillips, and Juan BaÒuelos, winner of the 2009 Jaime Sabines--Gatien Lapointe International Poetry Award.
They will be joined by Roy Dorante, who will share a fragment of his monolog To Cross the Border, which touches on the subject of the Arizona law known as SB 1070. Elizabeth Cazessus will read her poetry Sin nupcias al olvido with musical embellishments by Trova singer Fer Monroy.
The festival will be held Oct. 18 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Cultural Center in San Luis, Ariz.
Tickets will cost $10 each and can be obtained by calling the directors of LULAC at 928-550-8712 or 928-341-5735. Further information can be obtained from the Mexican Consulate in Yuma at 928-343-0066, Ext. 817.
