This past March, KXCI brought the 2nd Annual Baila el Pueblo–A Desert Music Festival to the heart of Downtown Tucson. It had been more than a decade since KXCI last hosted a music festival, and we decided it was time to get back to celebrating with our community at an outdoor event.
Inspired by decades of local Waila Festivals celebrating the social dance of the Tohono O’odham Nation, our goal was to recreate that beautiful spirit of dancing together under the Sonoran Desert sky. We recognize that The Borderlands deeply influence who we are as a station. Our festival’s name is a deliberate recognition of place and sets a clear intention for our community to gather. KXCI exists in an ethnically diverse community seated on the ancestral homelands of the Tohono O’odham and Yoeme, just 45 minutes from Mexico. To honor this, we open our festivals with a beautiful Indigenous blessing.
Baila el Pueblo–A Desert Music Festival was an incredible success, with nearly 900 people joining us! While the daytime weather was a bit hotter than we had hoped for (100F!), our community showed amazing resilience. By the time the sun set, the street was glowing with bistro lights and papel picado, filled with a crowd ready to celebrate together.
This year’s headliner was Mexican Institute of Sound, straight from Ciudad de Mexico. Our lineup of 7 artists was made up of 3 bands from Mexico (Tijuana, Hermosillo, and CDMX), three local artists, including a family band from the Tohono O’odham Nation and a DJ collective, a regional group from the White River Apache, and legendary 86-year old Tejano singer Ruben “El Gato Negro” Ramos with Carrie Rodriguez and Tucson’s Sergio Medoza.
Last year’s festival was held at an established outdoor music venue where the stage and lighting were already in place. However, due to coordination and security challenges with the venue staff, we decided to move the festival to the heart of downtown on the plaza and street right next to Tucson’s downtown cathedral. While a new venue always brings unplanned challenges, overall it proved to be a much better experience for our attendees and our staff.
Lessons Learned
KXCI has a staff of 11, and putting on a festival of this scale, on top of all of our regular responsibilities, took more staff time than we imagined. As a fully independent community station broadcasting since 1983, we have deep roots and connections in the community and with our donor base. All of this helped with organizing the event, but we are also always learning.
Here are some takeaways;
Production & Logistics: Because we had to build the main stage setup from scratch and accommodate our headliner’s heavy sound and lighting requirements, production costs were significantly higher than anticipated.
Booking the Talent: We booked all the bands ourselves this year, which proved to be a massive undertaking.
Bar Sales: For the first time, we took over liquor sales at a new venue to keep more revenue. This worked well because we secured donated alcohol, though hiring an outside bartending outfit was a major expense.
Finances: As with any major event, sponsorships and grants are what make it sustainable. We raised about half of our expenses through these partnerships and offered VIP tickets to ensure General Admission remained affordable for everyone.
One of our biggest takeaways is the importance of attention to detail. Moving forward, clear emails and backup documentation are critical when communicating with everyone from city officials to bands and vendors.
Planning for Next Year
We’ve already started planning next year’s festival. These are some of the changes that we’re incorporating.
Outsourcing: We will likely work with local concert promoters to handle band contracting, allowing our small team to focus on the community experience.
Event Management: The event organizer we hired left us with important documentation about who and when to contact for permits and street closures, as well as templates that will help us streamline our work. Although we had a good number of volunteers, the new space required more training than we were expecting, so we’ll focus more on this next year.
In-House Bartending: We plan to manage the bar on our own and use volunteers to maximize bar sales profits.
KXCI has grown, morphed, nearly imploded, and thrived since 1983 – sometimes all in the same week! We have deep community roots, and we’re committed to our mission of connecting communities and uplifting voices. If you’re in the Southwest next March, come dance with us under the Sonoran sky.
