EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The city of Juarez, Mexico, will celebrate its favorite adopted son with a 10-day musical and cultural festival that begins Friday with the reopening of Museo Juan Gabriel.
The ceremony at the late singer’s iconic white house on 16th of September Avenue kicks off the Juarez Juangabrielisimo 2024 festival at various venues.
“This will be very good for the city,” Juarez Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar said. “Juan Gabriel is an icon, a man who always spoke well of Juarez and never forgot his roots. Even though Mr. Alberto Aguilera was born in Michoacan, ‘Juan Gabriel’ was born in Juarez.”
The festival includes mariachi music, roving sing-alongs, dance contests, a Mass at San Lorenzo church and a race/walk through Downtown Juarez on August 25.
The festival concludes the evening of Sept. 1 with a concert by Edith Marquez at the Big Red X featuring Juan Gabriel songs.
This will be the third year the event is held in Juarez. Perez Cuellar hopes it will lead to Museo Juan Gabriel becoming a regular tourist attraction in the city.
Juan Gabriel (born Alberto Aguilera) became a pillar of Mexican pop music both as a composer and a singer. He gained international fame and became known for his flamboyant singing style. A PBS series on life in El Paso documented how he transcended borders and became a symbol for the region.
He died at age 66 in Santa Monica, California.
Juarez police Cmdr. Victor Sauceda and Traffic Department Cmdr. Victor Mejia said hundreds of police and motorized officers would guarantee visitors’ security at all the events. Traffic officers have been instructed to courteously assist with traffic flow and point motorists to valid parking spaces.
Felipe Rojas, who represents Juan Gabriel’s heirs the Aguilera family, said an online schedule will be published soon on the operating hours of the museum. The home has been open to the public on and off for short periods of time over the years. But this time, plans call for a long-term engagement.
Information on the festival’s events is available online.
