Bringing the people together to vibe harmoniously with music and art embracing the local culture and lifestyle is none other than La Parada—a grass roots event that honors the community. This September the event celebrates 8 years of providing nothing but a good time for the people of the borderland.
Set in downtown El Paso at the San Carlos building at 501 Texas (also home to Atomic Wax Records) this event goes down every first Friday of the month featuring local DJs of all styles and formats, bands of all genres, hip-hop up and comers and dancers of various disciplines.
Part of this multifaceted event includes live art done by different artist on huge canvases. It is truly amazing to witness the pieces come to life—from your first beer to the last, you’ll take your cruise around the event mingling with hip-hop heads, skaters, punks, vinyl dudes, students, stoners, musicians, fellow artist, normies and overall chill peeps while art comes to life around you.
Always interesting pieces to see at the art market where local artisans and vendors sell their own art from stickers, jewelry, paintings, shirts, flasks, glass, smoking essentials and that one dude that sells rocks to put under your bed to help you sleep better.
Although La Parada’s main focus are the local arts, many artist from outside have traveled and performed at this event throughout the years: Houseshoes (Detroit, MI), Peanut Butter Wolf (LA/Stones Throw), Zikomo (Long Beach, CA), Rude Behaviour (Albuquerque, NM) and Kenny Segal (LA/Team Supreme) to name just a few of the many.
For their 8 year celebration on September 7th, expect nothing less than a blow-out—Sun City style. La Parada will be host to some top notch LA DJ/producers: Mono/Poly (Brainfeeder), Nobody (Low End Theory), D-Styles (Low End Theory) plus the talented A. Billi Free (NM) and long time resident DJ, Chuco’s own System A.
Live art will be provided by Shack Chavez (Calavera Studio, Ciudad Juárez).
Get there early for the $1 tacos and margarita happy hour from 5pm-8pm and enjoy—fill up on some of the good stuff before all the action pops off. Music goes from 9pm-2am.
Having attended La Parada since the beginning, one of the the biggest things that I have noticed and admire is that the organizers provide a platform for local artist to express freely what they intend to bring to the table artistically—show us what you got. The other is how the crowd themselves, are given the freedom to enjoy the sights, sounds, tastes and smells in a way where the objective is—let’s party.
What La Parada presents is the vibe and energy of the borderland including Juárez and our New Mexico neighbors, consistently providing enjoyment and entertainment, Chuco style. Now an institution and an El Paso staple, La Parada has consistently stepped up and has been an integral puzzle piece to the El Paso art and music scene, as well as an important part of the community. Happy birthday La Parada!
