Charro Days — A Brownsville Tradition
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
It's a tradition that has been going strong for 83 years.
In around six weeks, children will be released from school early on a Thursday. Traffic will be worse than it usually is as thousands of people funnel into the downtown area. People living close to Elizabeth Street will try to put plastic chairs and traffic cones in front of their houses in order to have people park there (even though they shouldn't do so), while others will make a few extra bucks allowing people to park on their property. Men, women, and children wearing cowboy hats, colorful dresses, and boots will pay the local Lion's club a few bucks to sit on their orange folding chairs placed all along the parade route. The air will be filled with the smell of fajitas, popcorn, and roasted corn. Children will tug on their mother's leg to get their attention — they'll want one of those pink or pastel blue puffs of cotton candy floating among the crowds.
They'll wait until they see flashing police vehicle lights in the distance. The LEDs will flash red and blue as the police cars make their way down Elizabeth Street. Behind them, an honor guard dressed up in cowboy garb proudly displays the American, Mexican, and Texas flags. The crowd will begin clapping, they'll rise to their feet, many will remove their caps, and a few military veterans will snap to attention.
The 2020 BISD Children's Parade has begun.
While many think the BISD Children's Parade is the official start of the annual Charro Days celebration, the festivities will actually begin the Saturday before with the Baile del Sol. Sunday's A Little Bit of Mexico rounds out the weekend's festivities. However, the Children's Parade is the one event that really kicks off the whole party.
Weeks before the parade, spots will begin to pop up all over town offering all kinds of Charro Days attire, from the traditional white dress shirt emblazoned with a Mexican golden eagle to the bright pastel colored blouses and China poblana dresses and hair bows as far as the eye can see. Guys like me (with a little more baggage in the belly area) will struggle a little more to find something appropriate to wear — I'm not saying it's impossible, I found some nice Charro Days appropriate attire last year, it just took a little longer to find something in my size. Most street and sidewalk vendors don't have a big and tall section.
The BISD Children's Parade is the first of four parades to pass through historic Downtown Brownsville. Thursday's Children's Parade is followed by the Illuminated Night Parade on Friday evening, and Saturday's Color Guard Parade will be closely followed by the Grand International Parade.
All the parades, along with the Charro Days Carnival, are coordinated by the Charro Days Fiesta organization.
They are also the office who puts out the annual Charro Days poster. All the recent official posters have been created by local artist Don Breeden. Once this year's poster is revealed, you can pick up your poster at the Charro Days Fiesta offices located in the old Tip-O-Tex Chevy dealership building on Elizabeth Street. If you would like to see a nice display of previous Charro Days posters, I would suggest taking in a dinner at Oyster Bar on Paredes Line Road. Mayor Gonzalez has several of the posters framed and on display.
A more recent addition to the Charro Days festivities is the Sombrero Festival. Charro Days has been around since 1938; the Sombrero Festival has been a part of Charro Days since 1986.
With the exception of two years, the Sombrero Festival has always been held at Washington Park in front of Putegnat Elementary. The Sombrero Festival is a three day party that has live music, beer, chili and frijol cooking contests, beer, a japapeño eating contest, beer, a waiter's race, beer, all kinds of food, and several other fun events for the entire family (and did I mention beer?).
And now, the rest of the story.
In 1937, city leaders were trying to decide what to do with the continuing problems the Great Depression had brought the region. City leaders thought a city-wide celebration would increase morale and, more importantly, attract tourists so they could pump much needed money into the city. Using a celebration at the Port of Brownsville and a citrus celebration at the other end of the Valley as inspiration, Charro Days was born.
Kenneth Faxon, regarded as the "father of Charro Days," along with the Pan American Roundtable convinced the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce to organize a fiesta committee and plan a celebration to take place in late February of 1938.
The first celebration started with a fireworks display on Thursday. The celebration followed with carnivals, bullfights in Matamoros, street dances, motorboat and sailboat races at the Port of Brownsville, a rodeo, and a Grand Costume Ball in Matamoros. While some of these events are still incorporated in the modern-day Charro Days celebrations, some, like the rodeo, have been discontinued since other cities in the Rio Grande Valley have events like the Los Fresnos Rodeo.
Some of the Charro Day traditions are fun and have been around for a while. One of the traditions that has been followed since I can remember is men growing out their beards. If a man doesn't have a beard during Charro Days, he may be hauled off to "brush court" where he'll be put in jail for not having the non-offensive face whiskers. In earlier times, it took you a nickel to get sprung from brush court.
One of the key components in the Charro Days celebration is the understanding that Brownsville and Matamoros share a similar culture and thus are sister cities. For many years, baton twirlers and drum and bugle corps from Matamoros secundarias and colegios have appeared in the Charro Days parades. In 1950, the Fiesta Parade crossed into Mexico for the first time.
One of the other traditions that has stopped is the practice of Paso Libre. In 1954, the international bridges were open so people could freely pass between Brownsville and Matamoros without any restrictions on immigration. The idea was to allow anybody who wanted to participate in the festivities to cross without any issue. Paso Libre has long since stopped. I couldn't possibly imagine this being done today.
I don't like using the word unique because unique means "one of a kind," and I'm sure there are plenty of places around the United States where similar celebrations celebrating culture and togetherness exist. However, it is definitely a joyous experience. Many of us have participated in Charro Days in one way, shape, or form. Some of you may have danced in the Children's Parade as a viejito or a venado, or you may have appeared on one of the floats. You may have gone to the Sombrero Festival to listen to one of your favorite groups sing.
This isn't some far away, disconnected, lost piece of Brownsville history. This is something that is happening now. I get times have changed and I understand the world has grown more cynical and jaded. I also understand people grow tired and weary of drama surrounding organizations like the Mr. Amigo Association choosing people who probably should not have been Mr. Amigo, but we really should focus on the celebratory aspect of the festivities. We should really try to put all our petty animus aside and spend a little time smiling, laughing, and taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of Charro Days.
Health permitting, I'll be where I always am on Thursday. I'll be on the corner of Elizabeth and Palm Boulevard in front of the First Presbyterian Church.
We here at the Beacon hope you all can make it out to downtown for a little fun. Life goes by too fast. Take a little time to stop and smell the roses.
It's a tradition that has been going strong for 83 years.
In around six weeks, children will be released from school early on a Thursday. Traffic will be worse than it usually is as thousands of people funnel into the downtown area. People living close to Elizabeth Street will try to put plastic chairs and traffic cones in front of their houses in order to have people park there (even though they shouldn't do so), while others will make a few extra bucks allowing people to park on their property. Men, women, and children wearing cowboy hats, colorful dresses, and boots will pay the local Lion's club a few bucks to sit on their orange folding chairs placed all along the parade route. The air will be filled with the smell of fajitas, popcorn, and roasted corn. Children will tug on their mother's leg to get their attention — they'll want one of those pink or pastel blue puffs of cotton candy floating among the crowds.
They'll wait until they see flashing police vehicle lights in the distance. The LEDs will flash red and blue as the police cars make their way down Elizabeth Street. Behind them, an honor guard dressed up in cowboy garb proudly displays the American, Mexican, and Texas flags. The crowd will begin clapping, they'll rise to their feet, many will remove their caps, and a few military veterans will snap to attention.
The 2020 BISD Children's Parade has begun.
While many think the BISD Children's Parade is the official start of the annual Charro Days celebration, the festivities will actually begin the Saturday before with the Baile del Sol. Sunday's A Little Bit of Mexico rounds out the weekend's festivities. However, the Children's Parade is the one event that really kicks off the whole party.
Weeks before the parade, spots will begin to pop up all over town offering all kinds of Charro Days attire, from the traditional white dress shirt emblazoned with a Mexican golden eagle to the bright pastel colored blouses and China poblana dresses and hair bows as far as the eye can see. Guys like me (with a little more baggage in the belly area) will struggle a little more to find something appropriate to wear — I'm not saying it's impossible, I found some nice Charro Days appropriate attire last year, it just took a little longer to find something in my size. Most street and sidewalk vendors don't have a big and tall section.
The BISD Children's Parade is the first of four parades to pass through historic Downtown Brownsville. Thursday's Children's Parade is followed by the Illuminated Night Parade on Friday evening, and Saturday's Color Guard Parade will be closely followed by the Grand International Parade.
All the parades, along with the Charro Days Carnival, are coordinated by the Charro Days Fiesta organization.
They are also the office who puts out the annual Charro Days poster. All the recent official posters have been created by local artist Don Breeden. Once this year's poster is revealed, you can pick up your poster at the Charro Days Fiesta offices located in the old Tip-O-Tex Chevy dealership building on Elizabeth Street. If you would like to see a nice display of previous Charro Days posters, I would suggest taking in a dinner at Oyster Bar on Paredes Line Road. Mayor Gonzalez has several of the posters framed and on display.
A more recent addition to the Charro Days festivities is the Sombrero Festival. Charro Days has been around since 1938; the Sombrero Festival has been a part of Charro Days since 1986.
With the exception of two years, the Sombrero Festival has always been held at Washington Park in front of Putegnat Elementary. The Sombrero Festival is a three day party that has live music, beer, chili and frijol cooking contests, beer, a japapeño eating contest, beer, a waiter's race, beer, all kinds of food, and several other fun events for the entire family (and did I mention beer?).
And now, the rest of the story.
In 1937, city leaders were trying to decide what to do with the continuing problems the Great Depression had brought the region. City leaders thought a city-wide celebration would increase morale and, more importantly, attract tourists so they could pump much needed money into the city. Using a celebration at the Port of Brownsville and a citrus celebration at the other end of the Valley as inspiration, Charro Days was born.
Kenneth Faxon, regarded as the "father of Charro Days," along with the Pan American Roundtable convinced the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce to organize a fiesta committee and plan a celebration to take place in late February of 1938.
The first celebration started with a fireworks display on Thursday. The celebration followed with carnivals, bullfights in Matamoros, street dances, motorboat and sailboat races at the Port of Brownsville, a rodeo, and a Grand Costume Ball in Matamoros. While some of these events are still incorporated in the modern-day Charro Days celebrations, some, like the rodeo, have been discontinued since other cities in the Rio Grande Valley have events like the Los Fresnos Rodeo.
Some of the Charro Day traditions are fun and have been around for a while. One of the traditions that has been followed since I can remember is men growing out their beards. If a man doesn't have a beard during Charro Days, he may be hauled off to "brush court" where he'll be put in jail for not having the non-offensive face whiskers. In earlier times, it took you a nickel to get sprung from brush court.
 |
| Whiskerless men in "jail" for not having a beard during the 1950's |
One of the key components in the Charro Days celebration is the understanding that Brownsville and Matamoros share a similar culture and thus are sister cities. For many years, baton twirlers and drum and bugle corps from Matamoros secundarias and colegios have appeared in the Charro Days parades. In 1950, the Fiesta Parade crossed into Mexico for the first time.
One of the other traditions that has stopped is the practice of Paso Libre. In 1954, the international bridges were open so people could freely pass between Brownsville and Matamoros without any restrictions on immigration. The idea was to allow anybody who wanted to participate in the festivities to cross without any issue. Paso Libre has long since stopped. I couldn't possibly imagine this being done today.
I don't like using the word unique because unique means "one of a kind," and I'm sure there are plenty of places around the United States where similar celebrations celebrating culture and togetherness exist. However, it is definitely a joyous experience. Many of us have participated in Charro Days in one way, shape, or form. Some of you may have danced in the Children's Parade as a viejito or a venado, or you may have appeared on one of the floats. You may have gone to the Sombrero Festival to listen to one of your favorite groups sing.
This isn't some far away, disconnected, lost piece of Brownsville history. This is something that is happening now. I get times have changed and I understand the world has grown more cynical and jaded. I also understand people grow tired and weary of drama surrounding organizations like the Mr. Amigo Association choosing people who probably should not have been Mr. Amigo, but we really should focus on the celebratory aspect of the festivities. We should really try to put all our petty animus aside and spend a little time smiling, laughing, and taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of Charro Days.
Health permitting, I'll be where I always am on Thursday. I'll be on the corner of Elizabeth and Palm Boulevard in front of the First Presbyterian Church.
 |
| The publisher of The Brownsville Beacon with a good friend, John Jefferson |
We here at the Beacon hope you all can make it out to downtown for a little fun. Life goes by too fast. Take a little time to stop and smell the roses.
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