Thousands of people crowded in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Sports Arena, May 7, to spend time with their families and have fun listening to top Latin entertainers such as Pepe Aguilar, Yahir, Reik, and Alicia Villareal. The event, which in previous years was held at Whittier Narrows Recreational Park, used to place a stronger focus on celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
“This is a free event, which is great for people who have big families and do not have a lot of money to spend on music and other types of entertainment,” said Thania Sanchez of Los Angeles.
The minute that the gates opened, the crowd flocked towards the stage. More than 500 people were congregated around the stage by 10 am.
“Look at me,” said Sanchez. “Here I am getting smashed in front; I hope Yahir’s performance is worth it. If it is, I’ll stay for Reik’s performance then.”
Looking around the first so-called rows there were familiar faces from prior Yahir in-store appearances and events. Several girls had posters that read, “Te Amo Yahir” (I love you Yahir) and “Apachurro” (a nickname the fans began calling Yahir while he was in “La Academia”, a reality show similar to “American Idol”).
“I’m so excited to see my Yayo,” said Yoselin Duran of Huntington Park. “I’ve met him lots of times already, but I’m still excited to see him perform.”
At around 11:30 a.m. Mexican pop star Yahir came on stage. He performed every song with an enormous smile on his face. While on stage he mentioned that he was happy to see familiar faces in the crowd. It was gratifying to see how much Yahir has grown as an artist over the last three years since he left the reality show.
“I am happy to see that the people, the fans, come together and support me,” Yahir said backstage. “For that I am very thankful.”
Throughout the day several Mexican bands performed. People not only got a chance to see their favorite celebrities perform, they also got many door prizes and free samples of everything from cereal to pens, at various tents stationed strategically around the edges of the parking lot and walking areas.
Finally at around 2 p.m. Mexico’s pop trio, Reik, performed. They performed about a 30 minute set, which had the young girls, and their mothers, in the crowd in a frenzy,. These three guys that range from 18 to 23 looked like veterans on stage even though they’ve only been performing as a group for about a year.
“Thanks for coming,” said Julio Ramirez, guitar player and backup singer of Reik.
“Don’t forget to come to our show at the House of Blues in two weeks,” chimed in Jesus Navarro, lead singer of Reik.
To culminate the days highlights of entertainment, one of the last performers to hit the stage was Mexico’s beloved balladeer and mariachi singer, Pepe Aguilar. This man has such presence while onstage, that the crowd was in awe and quietly sang along his songs with him.
In all, Univision Radio’s Festival was a hit in its new location. Hopefully as the years go buy the crowds will continue to flock to this new location, which is more centrally located for all the regions of Southern California, in comparison to the former Whittier location.
Christina Grate can be reached at ane@sundial.csun.edu
