Not only chalk, and not only artists, and not only kids, but this year’s festival will include music throughout the weekend.
The two-day celebration of art and creativity will wrap up Sunday with a special Cumbiaquero musical performance by Spaghetti Cumbia on Sunday, June 19, 6 to 7 p.m. in the Garfield Promenade.
Spaghetti Cumbia, based in Boyle Heights, will be one of several performers contributing to the live music component of the 29th annual Pasadena Chalk Festival this Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19. These performances are free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. The Chalk Festival itself opens at 10 a.m.
Cumbia is a style of Latin music that originated in Colombia and became popular throughout South America, Central America, and the United States. Traditional cumbia music uses a blend of African, Amerindian, and European styles and uses musical instruments such as drums, flutes, maracas, and accordions.
Spaghetti Cumbia has introduced another brand of cumbia that speaks to that type of malleability that cumbia can possess, says an article in LA Taco, a group blog covering food and street art in Los Angeles. The band does a special blend of what they refer to as “un poco cumbia, un poco vaquero” – a little bit of cumbia, a little bit of cowboy. Spaghetti Cumbia performs live cumbias infused with Spaghetti Western soundtracks.
Formed six years ago by members Marcel Campos and Pedro Aguire, with bandmates Bobby Guerrero, Paolo Paredones and Adolfo Mercado, the group blends their musical genealogy, consisting of their punk rock roots, along with the traditional cumbia sounds and other Latin music.
The band members grew up immersed in the sounds of Latin music played at social functions or even just at home while their parents prepared dinner. Later discovering punk, the group began to cross-pollinate their influences, resulting in a specific genre of music they play as “cumbiaquero,” which to the group represents their musical focus.
“When we get together we create this sound that is paying an homage,” Pedro Aguire once told LA Taco.
To know more about Spaghetti Cumbia, visit their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/
For more information about bands performing at the Pasadena Chalk Festival Saturday and Sunday, visit www.pasadenachalkfestival.org/