Weekend Preview: Pachanga at Fiesta Gardens [Saturday]

The fabulous annual fiesta that is the Pachanga Latino Music Festival takes over Fiesta Gardens this Saturday, and as promised earlier this week, we’re giving away two more tickets today to one loyal reader. Pachanga co-producers Rich Garza and Alex Vallejo have established a tremendous event that cultivates a wonderful family atmosphere and of course, offers loads of quality live music. Having attended the first two editions of the fest, we can attest that this is truly an excellent way to cherish and celebrate Latino culture in town come May each year.

If you’re bringing the kids, you’ll want to get there by noon for Niños Rock, a mini-fest that encourages and caters to the creativity within your child via music related workshops, along with hordes of tempting activities such as Mexican mask making, face painting, and inevitably, a piñata bashing session. And Annie Ray’s photo-booth will allow you to cherish these memories forever.

There’s plenty to keep you big kids satisfied as well -- check out the complete music schedule here. We recommend Amplified Heat’s bluesy sludge-rock (2:40 p.m. on the Hierba Stage) and Brownout’s genre-bending blends (3:20 p.m. on the Patio Stage) if you do make it to Fiesta Gardens early. In the evening, enjoy the traditional sounds of Mariachi Las Alteñas (6 p.m. on the Pavillion Stage), Bombasta’s delectable concoctions (7 p.m. on the Kids / Chicano Stage), and Grupo Fantasma’s always impressive mosaic, this time with special guest Larry Harlow on keys (7:30 p.m. on the Pavillion Stage). Close out the night with Hacienda’s irresistible garage-pop (8:30 p.m. on the Patio Stage) and riveting cumbia from Columbia’s finest Bomba Estéreo (9:30 p.m. on the Hierba Stage). Quite a bit to get you through the day, we reckon. Enter your information below for a chance to win complementary entry for two:

Pachanga: [Official] [MySpace]

Follow the jump for the rest of our weekend recommendations.