Baile del Sol kicks off Charro Days

The 9-year-old smiled shyly and looked down at her long green skirt and white blouse, traditional Mexican dress. Her hair was swept back in a long braid with a colorful bow.

"You get to be so pretty," the young dancer, Patricia Avila, said of her favorite part of Charro Days, while flouncing her skirt.

Avila danced for the first time at Baile del Sol Sunday, the event featuring folkloric dances from Brownsville schoolchildren that kicks off the Charro Days festival each year.

With bright red lipstick and sparkles on her cheeks, Avila joined the confluence of color that was the event, with 10 groups of dancers featuring girls and boys in bright costumes, as well as dancers from the University of Texas Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

Hundreds of people came downtown Sunday for the Baile del Sol on a sunny day that grew hotter as the afternoon progressed. The crowd ranged from the elderly, to teenagers huddling in groups, to families with small children.

The youngest attendee dressed in traditional Charro Days garb was 6 months old.

The performers danced all afternoon, from the youngest ones tapping lively to the university students performing while balancing trays and bottles on their heads.

"This is all for the people of Brownsville and Matamoros," Charro Days President Kenneth Lieck said.

The 75th annual Charro Days festival, which celebrates the friendship between the two cities, spans this week with the parades, welcoming this year’s Mr. Amigo, the carnival, concerts and other festivities, Lieck said.

As the official grito rang out loudly around 3 p.m. with an abundance of confetti, Charro Days officially began during Baile del Sol.

The event also included Tejano music from U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers and a taco-eating contest.

Last year’s winner Cirilo Tamayo, Jr. took the top spot again, polishing off a tortilla filled with two pounds of beans in 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

Rosa Rodriguez wandered around the festival with her 3-year-old niece Zoe and 4-year-old son Ismael. Zoe wore a bright red flowing dress and hid quietly behind her aunt. Ismael jumped out and declared he loves dressing as a cowboy for Charro Days, though he was in regular clothes Sunday.

"It’s so nice, colorful and bright here," Rodriguez said.

The dancers weren’t the only ones in costume, as people swarmed the festival in colorful clothing.

Chickie Zamano, 74, of Brownsville wore a long skirt and vest in a mix of colors – an original costume she brought back from Mexico City.

"I make sure I buy one every year," she said of her Mexican-crafted outfit.

Zamano, born in December 1938, is almost as old as the festival itself. She celebrated her first Charro Days when she was 2 months old. She attended with her family as a young girl, and has photographs from each year.

"Charro Days makes me feel young," said the woman, brimming with energy.