Mariachi Festival puts on a colorful flourish of music and dance

Homegrown talent with nationwide reach graced the stage of the Wortham Theater Center on Saturday for the second night of Houston's Mariachi Festival.

The show featured McAllen's Mariachi 7 Leguas, the nationally recognized Ballet Folklórico group from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Mateo Lopez, who was once named the world's youngest mariachi singer. It's the sixth year for the festival, which began in 2019 with about 250 attendees at Talento Bilingüe de Houston in the East End and has now become a yearly favorite of the Theater District.

This year's festival kicked off Friday night and will wrap up Sunday with Mariachi Mariposas, Mariachi Del Bosque, multiple high school mariachi groups, South Texas College's Ballet Folklórico and the winners of a nationwide mariachi youth vocalist competition. Tickets are still available for $29 and up at performingartshouston.org.

On Saturday, the audience was asked to come in formal attire. 

"Dress to impress," part of the dress code stated.

For an inside look at the action from the second night, check out our photos by Houston Chronicle staff photographer Raquel Natalicchio.