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Greeley Fiesta: On the way up? |
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Written by Dan England
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Friday, 14 September 2007 |
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 Beto Loya expects big things from this year’s Greeley Fiesta.
At least he expects it to be a lot more successful than in year’s past.
“Absolutely,” Loya said. “I feel really good about this year.”
Of course, that’s possibly because things in past years didn’t go so well for the Greeley Fiesta. The committee was disorganized, the marketing was nonexistent and the headliners created about as much buzz as a soda left out in the heat, and as a result of all that, attendance was low, Loya said.
This year, Loya, a founding member of the Fiesta, expects a rebirth.
Aside from refocusing its efforts on getting people to come out—you’ve probably seen at least one billboard along northern Colorado’s main roads, and the Fiesta got $50,000 of in-kind advertising from Telemundo TV— the committee attempted to beef up the entertainment.
The Fiesta brought Lucha Libre, the kind of pro wrestling Latinos favor, with masked heroes and villains doing high-flying stunts. There’s a futbol tournament (what some of us call soccer). And it will end with a Mexican Rodeo produced by the same organizers of the National Western Stock show.
 Most of all, the dance and concert will feature three opening acts and Mazizo Musical will headline it. The duranguense group from Chicago comes to the Fiesta riding a recent wave of popularity.
“They’ve aired on the Spanish talk shows and they’re pretty popular right now,” said Loya, who is the chairman for this year’s Fiesta committee. “They put on a really good show, so we’re excited about it. The talent we’re bringing in makes all the difference in the world. We want to take out the desire to go to Denver for the weekend.”
The Greeley Fiesta would like to offer the events free of charge in the future. To do that, the organization will have to grab more sponsors.
There have been road bumps. The Stampede didn’t meet its projections for this year for sponsors. Given its past, sponsors were hesitant to spend a lot of money for advertising for an event that may not draw big numbers.
“A lot of the sponsors were on the fence this year,” said Alex Castanuela, who handled marketing for the Fiesta. “Eventually we want to produce the attendance to convince sponsors to buy into this. So there’s that pressure to make sure we do that.”
If the numbers aren’t there, there’s always a possibility the Fiesta committee won’t bring the event back next year.
“Will this be an event that shuts down?” Castanuela said. “That’s why we need people to support it, or else people will go down to Denver and spend their money in that market.”
But that’s not what organizers are focusing on for now.
“We really want to continue to grow this,” Castanuela said. “One day we want to be to the extreme of a Greeley Stampede.”
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Greeley Fiesta 2007 Island Grove Regional Park
Saturday, Sept. 15
9-10:30 a.m. – Parade
10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Booth Vendors (food and non-food)
Free Stage
Children’s Area
Kids Carnival
Jalapeño Eating Contest at 3 p.m.
8 p.m.–1:30 a.m. ($15 pre-sale) Concert and dance in the Events Center at Island Grove.
Performances by:
• Mazizo Musical (above)
• La Onda
• Lorenzo Monteclaro
Sunday, Sept. 16
10 a.m.–4 p.m. – Soccer tournament
10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Booth Vendors (food and non-food)
Free Stage
Children’s Area
Kids Carnival
1-4 p.m., Lucha Libre
4-8 p.m. - Mexican Rodeo ($10)
Performances by:
• Associación de Charros Las Delicias
• Music by Los Altaños de la Sierra
Tickets are offered at these places:
• BBB Mart, 2606 8th Ave., Greeley
• Carniceria La Providencia, 2434 W. 10th St., Greeley
• El Piteado, 435 14th Ave., Greeley
• Greeley Fiesta office, 1331 8th Ave., Greeley; call 470.5692 for tickets or more information. | Only registered users can write comments.
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