San Luis marks 39th anniversary with parade, festival

SAN LUIS, Ariz. – San Luis will mark nearly four decades of cityhood on Saturday when residents revive the annual Founders Day celebration.

After a two-year hiatus, the celebration that marks the 1979 incorporation of the city will get underway with a parade in the morning, followed by an outdoor festival beginning in the afternoon in Joe Orduno Park.

The festival, featuring live music entertainment, food booths and games for kids, is free to the public.

About 30 entries are expected to form the parade that is slated to begin at 10 a.m. at 8th Avenue and Urtuzuastegui Street. The parade will travel north on 8th Avenue to Juan Sanchez Boulevard, then turn west on Juan Sanchez, ending at Joe Orduno Park.

Among those taking part in the parade is the Gadsden Elementary School District’s marching band. There will be other school groups from the area, as well as entries representing classic car and off-road clubs, and community and nonprofit organizations.

The celebration will resume 4 p.m. at Joe Orduno Park, located at Juan Sanchez Boulevard and Main Street.

Music begins at 4:15 with a performance by Los Quintanilla, a tribute band for the late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla. Los Quintanilla, featuring local vocalist Coral Alonso, will be followed at 5 p.m. by a performance from Clave A, a country band from San Luis Rio Colorado. After Clave A will be Two Souls, a brother duo from Ensenada Baja, Calif., that performs rock and pop in English.

Mayor Gerardo Sanchez and members of the city council will formally observe the anniversary of the city’s founding in a ceremony set for 6:45 p.m.

Music will resume with a performance by Milton Arce, a norteno and banda musician from Mexico’s Sinaloa state.

Los Ramones de Nuevo Leon, a norteno band from Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state, will close the festival with a performance that begins at 8:30. The band received a Latin Grammy nomination for its 2016 album Tierra Mojada.