Palenke Arts’ joyful celebration was a reminder of our country’s diversity.

Celia Jiménez here, still feeling festive and energized after attending the Palenke Arts Festival on Sunday, June 7 at Laguna Grande Park in Seaside. 

On a mostly sunny day, more than 150 people showed up to celebrate Palenke's 10th annual festival and it was a colorful, joyful celebration. 

People of all ages, including Palenke Arts founder Juan Sánchez, danced, sang and enjoyed an array of folklórico performances and listened to rap, hip-hop, banda music and plena, a Puerto Rican music genre.

One of my favorite moments was when Plenazo Tribe, the band who performed with Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl in February, began their performance on the floor with a party train, playing instruments and pumping up the crowd who danced and engaged with the collective. 

Ruby Ibarra, along with Plenazo Tribe, sang several songs about resistance, identity and empowerment. Plenazo in itself is a microcosm of what this country is: a salad bowl of cultures, traditions and languages.

Over the past decade, Palenke Arts has become an important part of the community, and through it people can learn, appreciate and engage with arts and expand and challenge their perspectives. As I reported in the most recent edition of the Weekly, Palenke Arts is working toward an $11 million arts facility at Seaside High School.

The event also took me down memory lane.

Banda Tierra Menguarense, a Sinaloan-style band based in Salinas, performed several songs I grew up listening to in Nayarit, including “El Sinaloense,” “Ya No Me Mires Así,” “Provocame” and more. Seeing the dancers’ skirts swirling to the beat of the songs reminded me of the hours it takes to master every step.

Palenke Arts set a high bar for next year’s festival.