Along 15th Ave. in East Moline, parents and children gathered for the for the Baile del Sol or Sun Dance Festival on a hot and muggy Saturday, July 28th. This is the second year for this event that continued its short tradition of bringing live authentic Mexican music to a family atmosphere. From the accordion rich norteñas from Los Compas del Norte to the tamborzazos (drumming) of the duranguense music from Los Paisas de Durango, the music
got people spinning with their partner and stepping side to side in the middle of the downtown street.
This was the first time the lead singer of Los Compas del Norte, Jessica Castro, attended the event which she described as being more “straight up Mexican” and said that “it seemed more like a good ‘baile’ (dance) because you heard durangense, norteñas, and cumbias. It’s what people want to hear.”
“I saw a lot of people that I knew and they were enjoying themselves,” said Castro. “It’s cool that they are doing this for the parks.”
A portion of the proceeds from the event go towards the improvement of East Moline parks.
There were many activities for the kids including piñatas and an inflatable play pen. But it seemed that the big hit with the children were the balloon swords which they used to chase one another around with. Event organizer Ignacio “Nacho” Gonzalez said that he was very happy with the turnout and especially thankful that they showed up as families.
“I saw a lot more kids this year,” Gonzalez said.
La Flama Mexican restaurant brought its great food and service again this year and they were even serving items like elotes (corn on the cob) that you can’t find on the menu at their Moline restaurant.
Gonzales added that he is very thankful to all the volunteers who made the event happen and everyone else that helped out.
“I hope that everyone had a good time and we’ll see you next year,” said Gonzalez.