Sunday, June 30, was a hot and humid evening, but that didn’t stop hundreds of eager people from attending the last concert in this year’s Music Under the Stars lineup. The free music series takes place every year at Chamizal Memorial Park and features local music groups and it ended with a performance from Group Mariachi Alegre.

“A lot of people don’t have money to spend, and these are nice events we come to. It’s a family event, nobody’s being rude or disrespectful and that’s good, that shows what El Pasoans actually are, we’re nice people,” said attendee Eva Quezada.

People of all ages attended. An elderly couple held hands, and reminisced about past years they have attended the festival.

“I like the cultural aspect, it has a big variety of things and it’s very inclusive, families can come and also elders and young people,” said Lucy Ley Jaquez, who was attending the event with her family.

Group Mariachi Alegre is an 11-piece ensemble that formed in 1994 when its members were high school and UTEP students. Currently, the group is well known in the El Paso area.

“We’re sad that this is the last event of the summer, it used to go on all summer, during July they used to have more events,” Rosie Holguin, who has been coming to this event for several years, said.

The mood was set, people who knew the lyrics were singing, others were recording video with their phones, and others were simply talking between them.  There were some folk dance groups who performed during several songs, including the group Folklorico Quetzales, celebrating its 30th anniversary, and even invited people from the audience to join them in dance.