SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Dancing, vibrant colors, music and delicious food is what you'd find at Sunday's 25th annual Guelaguetza festival at Palomar College. The annual festival is a time for the eight regions in the Mexican state of Oaxaca to gather and celebrate Oaxacan culture.
It's usually held in Oaxaca near the end of July, but the San Diego festival is held in September or October because of the cooler temperatures.
Sara Gutierrez has been volunteering for 15 years with the Coalition of Indigenous Communities of Oaxaca to put on this event.
"I think what makes Oaxaca very unique is that we're very united, and like when we get we do stuff like this, parties like this, we all come together and we all contribute," Gutierrez said.
Along with food booths, vendors of all types filled the festival. Many of the items for sale were handmade in Oaxaca.
"Many of these vendors come from the towns in Oaxaca, so they're not businesses, they're communities," Gutierrez said. "They get together and this is how they raise money to send back to their communities."
The festival picked up the pace with traditional dances from all eight Oaxaca regions. Dancer Alma Amador described some of the outfits to me.
"This particular one you wear, pineapple and the dress I'm wearing today," she said. "For men, they wear all white and hat on top, red bandana."
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