Saturday marked the in-person return of the Boyle Heights Youth Festival, a free neighborhood block party that brought games, food, live performances and celebrity guests to a stretch of 1st Street.
The event was led by local youth ages 13 to 24, who have been meeting for months to plan and shape every aspect of the programming.
“When we say it’s for youth by the youth, it’s not a tagline. When people come down to the festival, they’ll see it’s young people running the show,” said Carmelita Ramirez-Sanchez, executive director of Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, one of the groups that organized the event along with Casa 0101, Healing Urban Barrios and Alma Family Services.
The festival was originally established by El Centro de Ayuda in the 1990s as a way to curb violence and provide a safe space for Boyle Heights youth. In 2017, a new group of organizers brought back the annual event but were forced to move the festivities online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 16-year-old Brian Marroquin, the Boyle Heights Youth Fest provided an opportunity to volunteer. He said he found out about the fest on Instagram and wanted to participate alongside his friends. “It’s important to have events like this to gather the community and celebrate the neighborhood,” said Marroquin from behind a booth where he was helping attendees fill out raffle cards for prizes.
Read: After more than a decade, the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory remains a hub for arts on the Eastside
Local musicians performing at the event filled the air with vibrant music as hundreds of attendees lined up at booths offering activities, community resources and free food like esquites, paletas and aguas frescas.
“They have so many free things like rock climbing and the jumpers but they also have resource booths and I was hoping to see if I could get a job from there,” said Kimberly Segundo, a 16-year-old student at Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School. Segundo said the youth fest came at a great time because she and her friends just finished AP exams and needed some downtime.
On stage, friends Sebastien Deleage, Eduardo Ruiz, Arthur Danielian and Alondra Andrade wowed the audience with covers of hard rock classics. The group, who was still working out an official band name, had never played in front of an audience that large.
“I felt nervous and I think I messed up sometimes but it was really fun,” Andrade said. Although the group hadn’t yet discussed whether their band would continue past the festival, Andrade was thrilled to perform with her friends in Boyle Heights where she grew up.
Some attendees got a chance to take photos with “Blue Beetle” star Xolo Maridueña and actor Xochitl Gomez of “Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness,” who served as guest presenters and helped honor youth contributors on stage.
Read: Eastside stories and storytellers can still find a stage at Casa 0101
Maridueña grew up in nearby El Sereno and took acting classes and roles at Boyle Heights’ Casa 0101 Theater. “This event was put on by the community for the community so I hope people take the time to make new friends, hear some local artists, and really unify the community. If we put some smiles on people’s faces, that’s great too,” Maridueña said.
Maridueña closed out the festival by performing his 2023 single “On My Way” alongside his friend and collaborator, Adriana Padilla. His teen fans sang along and cheered as Maridueña rapped bars about never forgetting his roots:
Ya sick of negative vibes I got the pill/ and it won’t cost you a dollar bill cuz I’m for real/ this is for my raza.
