(upbeat music) - The third annual Mariachi Festival is a vibrant celebration of Mexican music and culture, featuring local and national talent at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City.

Joining us today is Eduardo Baca Cuenca, Consul of Mexico.

- Oh, thank you.

- So nice to meet you.

- Very nice to meet you too.

Thank you for having me.

- And I'm- Of course, and I'm so excited to hear this is the third year, and it's just been getting bigger and better.

- It has, it has.

So we're very happy to see, you know, the response from the public.

So every year it's grown and we're very happy.

This year, we're having three groups that are local, but then we're having a headliner, which is a group, a Grammy-winning group, mariachi group.

So that's even more exciting, you know, it's giving a wider window to mariachi music.

- Tell us about, you mentioned the first year was a contest?

- Well, yeah, the first year we decided to start it, and we thought of it as a contest, but then we decided to turn it into a festival, and it's gotten bigger every year.

And luckily, new partners have come onto the project.

And this year we're having it, you know, both in the lobby activity as well as inside the Eccles Theater.

- Yeah, and it's such a beautiful weather this time of year for people to be inside and outside.

- Right, yeah.

- Tell us about the headliner.

- Well, the headliner is a Grammy-winning group.

It's an all-female mariachi group, and coming from New York, and they're called Flor de Toloache.

It's kind of a hard word to say, but Flor- - [Laura] I'll let you say it.

- (chuckles) Yeah, so we're very happy.

And like I said, we're also having three local groups, mariachi groups, 'cause there are quite a few mariachi groups in Utah.

- What are you most looking forward to, to introducing this to the public this year?

- Well, I think that music, just like art in general, is a great way to communicate, you know, to get to know each other better.

So I think that it's a great celebration of part of a community that's here, that's been here for many, many, many years, but also a celebration as part of all the programs that are being done here in Salt Lake.

- Oh, wonderful.

Well, thank you for being here to tell us about it.

- Thank you.

- If you would like to learn more about the Mariachi Festival coming to the Blocks Arts District, it's August 22nd, 6:00 to 10:00 PM at the Eccles Theater.

That's saltlakecountyarts.org where you can go to find more information.

saltlakecountyarts.org.

I am Laura Durham, thanks for watching "Contact".

(upbeat music) - Local events, arts, culture.

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