LOS ANGELES —
The Guatemalan community will take over the BMO stadium, where the LAFC club plays, to celebrate the first Independence Fair on September 14 and 15, where there will be plenty of exhibitors of different nostalgic products, as well as guest artists and, as the grand finale, the soccer classic between Municipal and Comunicaciones.
Ligia Aldana, organizer of the fair, reported that 27 companies will participate, offering typical dishes, crafts and textiles, businesses that will be set up in the stadium parking lot. On September 14, the event will be open from noon to midnight and on Sunday, September 15, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“It will be a fair that brings together the cultural, gastronomic, artistic and sporting aspects of our country, that will be our difference,” said Aldana. “We are giving our best to make it a great event as Guatemalans deserve.”
The first Independence Fair will take place on September 14 and 15, concluding with the Guatemalan football classic between Municipal and Comunicaciones.
(Ringo Chiu / Los Angeles Times in Spanish)
Over the two days, they will have a select group of Guatemalan artists that includes Los Miseria Cumbia Band, Los Mamboteros, Cynthia Arana, José Aldana, La Santa Cumbia and Los Tres Huitecos, among others. Also participating will be the Argentine Victor Kapusta and the Dominicans Jossie Esteban and the Patrulla 15.
The idea of holding this fair is to reach out to the Guatemalan community in the United States, and they plan to take it to different cities where there is a large Guatemalan presence every September, said Juan Luis Fonseca, general manager of Banrural, the main sponsor of the event.
“It is a recognition and gratitude for all Guatemalans in the United States who support our country so much,” said Fonseca. “Migrants are a true pillar of the economy, Guatemala needs the boost generated by remittances that allows investment and growth in all sectors.”
In 2023, Guatemalan migrants sent 19,804 million in remittances, more than 54% of which came through Banrural, a banking entity that will establish a business office in Los Angeles before the end of 2024.
“We are about to open an office to serve Guatemalans, offering them financial services that allow them to invest their money in Guatemala,” said Fonseca.
This bank sponsors more than 20 football clubs in the different leagues of Guatemala, which is why the “reds” and “creams” have been invited to liven up the closing of this fair and compete in the Copa Independencia Visa Banrural.
“We want to be with the migrants and celebrate independence together with a great game and a great show,” said Pedro Arriaza, marketing director of CD Municipal. “International figures such as Matías Rotondi, Ramiro Roca, Alejandro Medina, Alejandro Galindo and José Carlos ‘Flaco’ Martínez, the whole squad, have been selected.”
Pedro Arriaza, marketing director of CD Municipal (left), talks with Juan Luis Fonseca, general manager of Banrural and Christian De León, commercial manager of Comunicaciones FC when announcing the Guatemalan soccer classic to be held in Los Angeles.
(Ringo Chiu / Los Angeles Times in Spanish)
The game between the clubs with the most championships won, they have 32 in total each, arouses passion among the fans. In this sense, the organizers of the event hope that the supporters of the invited clubs will wear their colors and fill the stadium.
“We invite you to come and see a good sporting spectacle. At a national level, the classics are lived with a lot of passion, none of the teams wants to lose,” said Christian De León, commercial manager of Comunicaciones FC. The “cremas” arrive with the captain of the Guatemalan soccer team, José Pinto, as well as José Manuel Contreras, Erick “El Kuky” Lemus and José Alfredo Corena, among other figures.
The cost of the fair is 20 dollars to enter both days, on sale at the stadium box office. The price to see the football game starts at 76 dollars and starts, tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster; when paying for the game, fans are also entitled to enjoy all the artistic presentations of the fair on September 14 and 15.
