Ballet Folklórico De Los Angeles and Mariachi Garibaldi De Jamie Cuéllar Present Their Annual Holiday Spectacular

In its expanding mission to both celebrate and engage the many diverse cultures that comprise its surrounding community, Musco Center for the Arts will present Nochebuena: Christmas Eve in Mexico on Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December 22, a second date was added due to popular demand. The festive evening will feature the music, dance, and costumes of Ballet Folklórico De Los Ángeles and Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar.

"Musco Center is honored to work with these two distinguished performing ensemblesagain," said Musco Center Executive Director Richard T. Bryant. "Nochebuena is a cultural celebration that beautifully captures Mexican-American holiday traditions in a way that will resonate with many cultures within our North Orange County community."

In Nochebuena: Christmas Eve in Mexico, a blend of music and dance from across the diverse regions of Mexico are brought together in a single exciting night of festive family fun. These are traditions celebrated on Christmas Eve, in a country where Christmas is not just one day but an entire season. Traditions of indigenous culture, Spanish heritage, and other influences blend together for Nochebuena, an evening when Mexican families traditionally attend midnight mass before returning home to a late-night feast that includes foods like bacalao, ham, turkey, tamales, and molé, with ponche to drink and lots of music!

Nochebuena was first presented at Musco Center in 2019 and has been brought back by popular demand every year since, going virtual in 2020 due to COVID closures. This year, an additional performance was added to meet the high demand.

In the tradition of previous Nochebuena performances at Musco Center, audiences are invited to meet members of the cast in Musco Center's orchestra lobby immediately following each performance. This is a chance for families to take photos, get an up-close look at the elaborate costumes, and ask questions of the talented artists they have just watched perform.

"Nochebuena promises to stir warm Christmas memories for our Mexican-American audience members as it introduces others, whether their holiday heritage is from another Latin American country or anywhere else in the world, to a rich new way to celebrate together," said Bryant.

Nochebuena: Christmas Eve in Mexico will be presented on Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December 22 beginning at 7:30pm. Tickets, beginning at $30, are available online at www.muscocenter.org or by calling Musco Center at 844-626-8726 (844-OC-MUSCO). To enhance the Musco Center experience, Chapman University has implemented a new no-charge parking system. Detailed information is included for patrons who choose print-at-home tickets.

Musco Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Chapman University at 415 North Glassell, Orange, Calif.