Anne Erickson

Lansing State Journal

The Cristo Rey Fiesta is back this weekend, one of the ways that the Lansing community marks the official start of summer.

“Every year, we’re the first major festival in the mid-Michigan area,” said Manuel Delgado, Jr., fiesta chairman. “People look forward to that. It’s a party.”

The fiesta, now in its 37th year, is the main annual fundraiser for Cristo Rey Church. It started small, with just 100 people attending. Today, it’s one of the largest annual festivals in the area. Manuel expects 20,000 to 25,000 people head to the South Lansing church from Friday through Sunday.

“Our first year, we had two food booths, had to borrow a stage from the city and our beer tent was a little cooler like you would take to the beach,” Manuel said, laughing. “It’s grown, and now the festival is under two giant circus-sized tents.”

More than 250 volunteers have chipped in to prepare authentic Mexican cuisine. The festival also brings live music, a large beer tent, dances, a kids’ slide and a mercado, which is basically a Mexican flea market.

If you’ll never get the chance to visit Mexico, Manuel says this is the next best way to get a similar experience.

There’s lots of Michigan music. Chispa Caliente, La Corporacion, Super K Internacional and Grupo Illusion are among the acts that will bring authentic Tejano, conjunto and Latin music to the festivities.

There's also the "El Grito" contest at 7:35 p.m. Saturday. Translation: a "shout" contest, but a grito is a particular sort of shout that has roots in the Mexican War of Independence. That could get fun.

The food, of course, is a major draw.

“It’s all authentic food that’s cooked here,” Manuel said. “The food is fabulous.”

The most popular is the gordita, "which is basically a thicker corn tortilla that we stuff with pork, lettuce, tomato, cheese and onion and top off with salsa,” said Zachary Delgado, Manuel’s grandson, has been involved with the festival since 2008. “That’s our No. 1 dish we run out of every single year.”

What Manuel loves most about the fiesta is how it brings the Lansing community together.

“You look around, and you see Lansing,” he said. “You see the diversity, not just Hispanic people, but the diversity of Lansing. You’ll see Caucasians, African Americans, the Vietnamese community. This is not just a Hispanic festival— it’s a community festival.”

Contact Anne Erickson at (517) 377-1006 or aerickson@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AnneErickson.

How to go

The Cristo Rey Fiesta runs from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, with a Catholic mass at 11 a.m. Entry is $5 on Friday and Saturday after 5 p.m., and free the other times. Proceeds from the event go to support the Cristo Rey church. Cristo Rey church and festival are at 201 W. Miller Road in Lansing. Free parking and a special shuttle service are available at North Elementary School, 333 E. Miller Road, Lansing.