Winter Texan Times

Monarch Fest at Quinta Mazatlan

Details: Published: Wednesday, 13 March 2019 11:37; Written by Carina Brunson

20190313 Monarch Festival Quinta Mazatlan The third annual Monarch Fest at Quinta Mazatlan will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 16. Quinta Mazatlan is located at 600 Sunset Dr. in McAllen.

The event celebrates the northward migration of the iconic butterfly from Mexico through the United States and into Canada. The event will have food, speakers, tours, crafts, live entertainment and much more.

Quinta Mazatlan introduced the Monarch Fest in 2017 with McAllen Mayor Jim Darling’s signing of the Mayors' Monarch Pledge through the National Wildlife Federation. The City of McAllen is the first city in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the second in the United States, that pledges at the Champion Level to help create and restore habitat while educating citizens in the community about the plight of monarch butterflies.

As part of the pledge, Quinta Mazatlan is working with the McAllen school district to create learning landscapes on school campuses. The sanctuary also offers garden design workshops encouraging individuals and businesses to design gardens to support birds and butterflies.

The Monarch Fest features a marketplace, food trucks, art installations, live music and dance performances. Adults will enjoy the chef cooking demos with Chef Marcel, speakers from Mexico and the U.S., garden tours, native plant sales and more shopping.

“We seek to inspire the community to take part in saving the monarch by starting in our own backyards,” said Colleen Hook, manager of Quinta Mazatlan. “Together, we can make a difference.”

The urban sanctuary has more than doubled its acreage for habitat since opening in 2006 with many park improvements. A new LEED Certified Discovery Center was built in 2012, which services more than 10,000 children from area school districts annually and continues to grow the volunteer base bringing in over 8,500 hours annually.

For more information about The third annual Monarch Fest, visit www.quintamazatlan.com or call (956) 681-3370. Tickets can be purchased on line at www.ticketmaster.com.

Jazz Festival features Swing Street Big Band

Details: Published: Wednesday, 13 March 2019 11:43; Written by Carina Brunson

20190313 Swing street group photo steve The Swing Street Big Band is keeping big band music alive and their recent pairings with local high schools will be a lesson that musicians can perform for a long time.

McAllen High School will be hosting a Jazz Festival Saturday, March 16 in the school auditorium at 2021 LaVista Ave. The festival will feature jazz bands from McAllen High School, Memorial High School and the Swing Street Big Band.

This is the second partnership show between McAllen schools, the first performance was with Swing Street Band and McAllen Rowe High School last month.

Music will start at 5 p.m. with the high school jazz bands performing, followed by light refreshments before the Swing Street Big Band “Tribute to the Big Band Era” at 7 p.m. Swing Street Big Band is a 17-piece show/dance orchestra that is made up of band directors who currently teach in the Rio Grande Valley and retired band directors; some are Winter Texans from the Midwest.

Swing Street Big Band is made up of 18 very talented musicians from here in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, including vocalist Connie Crowell. Most are local active or retired band directors. The jazz band and big band styles of music come from the blend of saxophones, trumpets and trombones, plus piano, bass, drums, and guitar made popular by the bands of yesteryear and whose sounds have influenced bands still performing today.

Admission is $10 per person and tickets may be purchased in advance by calling McAllen High band director Bobby Salazar at (956) 369-2397. Tickets will also be available at the door on a first come/first serve basis and will entitle the ticket holder to attend all or any part of the festival.

For more information about Swing Street Big Band and the Jazz Fest, visit their website at www.SwingStreetRGV.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SwingStreetRGV