Dia De La Feria at San Mateo County Fair

Festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Expo Hall where the Farmworker Heroes Appreciation Opening Ceremony will be held. The event will include traditional folkloric dancing by more than 100 dancers from across the county, music by the Latin funk band Etaoin Shrdlu and afro-Brazilian musician Nilo Ayele, poetry and more. 

Typically a time of celebration and gratitude, the event will honor five farmworkers, Martin Acosta, Jose Vadajos, David Herrera, J. Consuelo Estrada and Jose Plancerte Orozco. And coastside farmworkers and their families will be bused to the fair to attend for free on Sunday. 

But this year’s Farmworker Heroes Appreciation Day will also have a somber note as those killed during a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay are memorialized. 

Also being honored is Dr. Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga and the nonprofit she founded and runs, Ayudando Latinos A Soñar. For more than a decade, Hernandez-Arriaga and ALAS have been serving San Mateo County’s Latino, farmworker and immigrant communities, creating more access to medical and mental health programming, the arts and other community resources. 

But this year’s honor is being granted after the organization sprung into action to serve Half Moon Bay’s displaced farmworkers living in deplorable living conditions which were exposed after experiencing the traumatic shooting. That work also led ALAS to be honored by both state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, and Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, as Nonprofit of the Year. 

The recognitions are appreciated, Hernandez-Arriaga said, but not what drives the nonprofit’s work. Making substantive change is, she said, sharing appreciation for the philanthropic and political support the organization has received while responding to multiple crises — the mass shooting and COVID-19. 

“We wake up every day and are pretty relentless with our work because we have years to catch up to make our community equitable and strong and have the support that they need,” Hernandez-Arriaga said. “We want to make sure that this moment doesn’t end, that this isn’t just resulting out of tragedy, but is really a long-term commitment to be there for our immigrant communities in real meaningful ways that are addressing real concerns — housing needs, medical needs, food, education.” 

Labor leader Dolores Huerta will also be in attendance Sunday as the event’s special guest. Huerta played an integral role in the labor movement of the ’60s and helped found the United Farm Workers union. Since then, Huerta has continued her advocacy work, forming the Dolores Huerta Foundation and championing the causes of women, immigrants, labor workers, the queer community and low-income earners. 

In addition to being recognized, honorees will have a mural by Carlos Gonzalez, a longtime Mission District muralist and San Francisco native, dedicated to them. He was asked to commission a mural for last year’s fair honoring Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong and credits being in the right place at the right time for why he was picked. 

But Seymour noted Gonzalez has been a prolific Bay Area artist for decades, creating murals inspired by Latino culture, struggles and resistance including one honoring the late labor leader Cesar Chavez at San Francisco State University painted in the ’90s and still there today. 

This year’s mural will feature Aztec drummers and dancers, Folklorico and Caribbean dancers, and butterflies, all in motion and backed by the traditional farmworker symbol, the Aztec eagle or thunderbird. The piece will be painted in vibrant colors and with help from fairgoers, including children and young artists. 

“It’s flattering, it’s an honor,” Gonzalez said about being selected, adding about the significance of the piece and the event. “We’ve been under-represented by mainstream culture. … After all the genocide and displacement, we’re still here and all we can do is continue spreading love through our love and our art,” he said. 

Performing on the fair Main Stage at 1:30 p.m. will be Abel Sanchez, a San Francisco native, musician, activist and director of the documentary “Songs for Cesar,” a film about the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement he helped lead. The film will also be shown 3 p.m. Sunday in Fiesta Hall. 

Also on the Main Stage, beginning at 3:30 p.m., will be Grupo Bryndis, a Latin Grammy Award winning band found in Santa Paula, California; Las Fenix, a band of sisters from Texas; and Los Gamma, a group formed in Michoacan in the ’90s. 

As a whole, the event is meant to both underscore the value Latinos, immigrants and farmworkers bring to the county while highlighting the richness of each community and educating the greater public on those qualities, fair officials have said. The event has earned the fair Prestigious Merrill Award, the highest honor the fair can receive. 

“Farmworker Heroes Day is more than just a one-time event,” Fair Operations Manager Justin Aquino said in a press release announcing the award. “It is an educational exhibit designed to educate our public and acknowledge and celebrate individuals who keep our food system running.”

Visit the San Mateo County Fair website at sanmateocountyfair.com/ to learn more about Dia De La Feria and Farmworker Heroes Appreciation Day activities, and other fair offerings.