Mariachi music is a Mexican cultural tradition that has been celebrated for hundreds of years.
This weekend Robstown High School will be hosting their 3rd annual El Cotton Picker Mariachi Festival, and they will try to break a record at the same time.
Records are meant to be broken, and this weekend, the Robstown High School mariachis group will join others in full attire, to attempt to set a new world record for the largest amount of mariachis performing together.
"Right now the current record is in Los Angeles. They have about 690. So, we need 700 to break the record," said Robstown High School Band Director Charles Cabrera.
More than 40 mariachi bands from schools around the South Texas Region will compete in the 3rd annual El Cotton Picker Mariachi Festival.They will also get a chance to be a part of the Guinness Book of World Records.
"We are only known for baseball, but mariachis have gone to state and gone to area. We have done all these things, and we are just trying to get better and better," said senior mariachi Mary Benavidez.
"And seeing that only 690 people could show up in Los Angeles and perform as a mariachi group, we thought here in Robstown we could do the same thing and only make it bigger," said senior mariachi Noah Cebeallos.
More than 700 musicians will gather at the Robstown High School gym on Saturday in an attempt to set a new world record. On paper, 740 mariachis have signed up.
"If everybody shows up, we can break it. We are playing "Los Mananitas" and "Volver Volver", and we will be in the gym, and we will rehearse from 12:00-12:40, and record it," said Cabrera.
As for the Robstown High School mariachis, who have only been together 3 years, this will be an opportunity to make their community proud.
"Not only something like this will put us on the map, but it would make our community very proud," said junior mariachi Yahaira Aguilar.
"Trying to break this record in town that is full of Hispanic and Tejano heritage, I’m pretty sure having this world record in our town would mean the world to our entire community," said junior mariachi Ricky Landeros.
The 3rd Annual El Cotton Picker Mariachi Festival will take place Saturday, April 14th, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be 42 mariachis from all over Texas participating in vocal and group ensembles. Students will strive for musical excellence through competition.
The Guinness World Record of the largest mariachi serenade:
All mariachis young and old are welcome to take part in this event.
* Must be in Mariachi attire or white shirt with collar & black pants
* wear sombrero
* have a mono (Mexican bow tie)
* play an instrument
Be there before 11am @ auditorium for registration
