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Dancers dressed in traditional Charro Days costumes are shown performing at Charreada 2018 at the Texas Southmost College Oliveira Services Center. /The Rider file photo.
UTRGV, City of Brownsville celebrate Charro Days
Charro Days is a local holiday that is celebrating its 87th edition this week.
“Charro Days originated back in 1937,” said Henry LeVrier, president of Charro Days Fiesta. “Several businessmen got together and had an idea to do something to lift up the spirits of the families of the community and also see how they could stimulate the economy a little bit.”
The first Charro Days festival was celebrated in February 1938. “Charro” refers to the Mexican gentleman or cowboy dressed elegantly and traditionally, according to the UTRGV Special Collections & University Archives website.
LeVrier said people look forward to the celebration. On a day with good weather, 25,000 to 30,000 people attend each of the parades organized by Charro Days Fiesta.
He said seeing the excitement of people and the traditional outfits, especially among children, is what has stood out to him the most over the years.
The celebration was heavily advertised in other parts of the state, including San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Corpus Christi as well as in northern Mexico through Televisa and other local TV stations, LeVrier said.
This year, Brownsville will see several parades by Charro Days Fiesta, including the Brownsville Independent School District Children’s Parade at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the Illuminated Parade at 7 p.m. Friday and the Grand International Parade at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“We have over 140 entries in the parade on Saturday,” LeVrier said. “For the first time, the UTRGV band will be performing in our parade and we’re very excited about that. … We welcome them.”
For the first time in Charro Days’ history, the Vaquero Marching Band, Color Guard and the Drill Team will participate to highlight the programs to the Brownsville community, according to Karen Dorado, UTRGV director of Special Projects and Community Relations.
The university has participated in the Illuminated Parade and the Grand International Parade in the past.
Dorado said UTRGV’s float, “La Bota” and Grupo Folklórico Tizatlán will return to the festivities. The UniMóvil, a 40-foot-long mobile clinic operated by the UTRGV School of Medicine will also be featured in the parades.
“We want to participate because we want to promote the university to our prospective students, families [and] the community at large,” she said. “ We want to demonstrate our commitment to our community. … We want to celebrate our Mexican heritage, be proud of it and help our community see how the university understands [its] importance.”
While UTRGV is participating in the Charro Days Fiesta festivities, Student Activities will host its annual Charreada from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday on the Student Union lawn on the Brownsville campus.
The event will feature performances by Grupo Folklórico Tizatlán, directed by Zelma Mata, a Health and Human Performance associate professor. The Brownsville Early College High School Dancing Stars and Mariachi Sol Azteca will also perform at the event.
Sergio Martinez, associate director of the UTRGV Student Union, said the event has a great lineup for students, which includes a special presentation from Vaqueros and Charros Unidos, which will perform with dancing horses.
Several student organizations, such as the Sculpture Club, will host fundraisings by selling art and food.
“We always want to create engaging events that promote community,” Martinez said. “That’s our interest. … We recognize that Charro Days is a very significant and cultural event for the city of Brownsville. We felt that it makes a lot of sense for us [to] create something that promotes and ties into Charro Days. [Something] that promotes not only Charro Days but the binational and bicultural heritage that exists in the region.”
