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A decade ago, the Ballet Folklorico Mosaicos was formed in Indianapolis with about 20 members participating in traditional dances in Mexico. Since then, it has grown to include roughly 70 people. To celebrate its growth and 10th anniversary, the dance group will host the Guelaguetza Mosaicos festival on March 30 at the Central Library branch. 

Guelaguetza is an annual festival celebrated in Oaxaca, Mexico that brings together seven regions and 16 Indigenous languages and ethnic groups to celebrate their cultural heritages and traditions. 

Starting at noon, visitors to the library branch can see Ballet Folklorico Mosaicos perform traditional dances, browse through several vendor tables, learn more about the history of Guelaguetza and grab lunch from food trucks on site. 

The festival is occurring in place of the Indianapolis Mariachi & Folklore Festival, which has taken place at Central Library for the past three years. Ballet Folklorico Mosaicos have partnered with Arte Mexicano en Indiana — a non-profit organization promoting Mexican art, music and culture — to put on the Mariachi & Folklore Festival. 

This year, Arte Mexicano en Indiana’s founder Eduardo Luna said, is an opportunity to celebrate Ballet Folklorico Mosaicos’ tenth anniversary and to share the rich tradition of the Guelaguetza. Luna hopes bringing the Guelaguetza festival to Indianapolis not only opens members of the broader community up to a powerful cultural experience, but serves as a reminder to Mexican-American Hoosiers of their culture. 

“You can still be part of the broader community without losing your traditions,” Luna said via email. “ … By creating these activities we are rejecting the image of the U.S. as a melting pot that removes difference and promotes sameness, and instead we are celebrating individual heritage which will make Indianapolis a more diverse and rich culture, and not the opposite as many people think.”

Sakura Fuqua, program specialist for immigrant outreach at the library, expects community response to the Guelaguetza Mosaicos festival to be similar to the response to previous Mariachi & Folklore Festivals of years past. 

“It’s very unusual in a great way,” she said. “From what I’ve seen in the community, people are proud to see that their culture is onstage in the atrium and anyone visiting that day — even unintentionally — gets to experience Mexican culture in a way that they may never have before.”

The Guelaguetza Mosaicos festival will take place in the atrium of Central Library, 40 E. St. Clair St., from noon to 4 p.m. and is free to attend.

Mirror Indy reporter Breanna Cooper covers arts and culture. Contact her at breanna.cooper@mirrorindy.org.