MILWAUKEE — This weekend marks 50 years since the start of Mexican Fiesta, which is almost as long as the Gonzales family has been attending.
“I’ve been married to my husband Rick for 55 years. And we've been coming here I think almost 50 years,” said Linda Gonzales.
Linda lives in Chicago but makes the drive up to Milwaukee every summer just for Mexican Fiesta.
She says she started coming up with her parents Emanuel and Alma as a little girl and remembers how much fun she had.
“Because it makes my ‘corazon’ happy,” said Linda Gonzales.
Now, they’ve passed that tradition onto their son John and his wife, Melissa.
“When I joined the family, I joined into their tradition of coming every year,” said Melissa Gonzales.
“We come here to celebrate our anniversary. She could go anywhere she wants and we always come back here. It's our special thing to do,” said John Gonzales.
For long-time organizers like Margarita Sandoval Skare, seeing the Fiesta’s success is wonderful.
“I think it’s a tremendous impact for not only the Mexican community, but the Hispanic community at large and our English-speaking community. You know, Milwaukee has many, many cultures and I think everyone is enjoying this festival,” said Margarita Sandoval Skare, Volunteer Coordinator at Mexican Fiesta.
“We just enjoy all the different kinds of foods and the culture and everybody's friendly. This place became like our second home almost,” said John Gonzales.
If you would like to start your own traditions like the Gonzales family, Mexican Fiesta is open until midnight Friday and runs through Sunday.
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