Luminaries of Latin and Tejano music will take the stage in Corpus Christi this April in tribute to the late, great Selena.
Twenty years after Selena died tragically in the prime of her career, Fiesta de la Flor will celebrate the life and legacy of the “Queen of Tejano” with an impressive lineup of bands at North Bayfront Park in downtown Corpus Christi on April 17-18.
A few of the bands playing the festival include A.B. Quintanilla y Los Kumbia King All Starz, Los Lobos, Clarissa Serna, and Little Joe Y La Familia.
“Our team wanted to honor this beautiful, talented woman for the hearts that she has touched and the substantial contributions that she has made to the culture of our city,” said Paulette Kluge, CEO of the Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The Corpus Christi CVB worked in conjunction with Selena’s family, the Quintanillas, to organize the festival, which is expected to draw at least 50,000 fans. Tickets cost $5 per day for adults, $2 for children age 5-12, and free for children under 5.
Selena’s brother, A.B. Quintanilla, will close out the show on Saturday night with his Latin Grammy Award-winning band A.B. Quintanilla y Los Kumbia King All Starz. Saturday’s show also features a performance by guitarist Chris Perez, Selena’s widower. Both Quintanilla and Perez were members of Selena’s band, Selena Y Los Dinos.
The music starts at 6 p.m. Friday, April 17, with Steven James & the Jaded (Corpus Christi), followed by Las Fenix (Houston), and culminating with Grammy award-winning Latin roots-rockers Los Lobos (Los Angeles). After the music, Alamo Drafthouse’s Rolling Roadshow will screen the movie Selena—a biopic starring Jennifer Lopez as Selena—in the park.
The music kicks off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 18, with a lineup including Clarissa Serna (Corpus); Nina Diaz (San Antonio); Stefanie Montiel (San Antonio); Jay Perez & Band (San Antonio); Chris Perez (San Antonio); Los Palominos (Uvalde); Little Joe Y Familia (Temple); and A.B. Quintanilla y Los Kumbia King All Starz.
Fiesta de la Flor will also feature food trucks, a “Kids Zone” with activities for children, and a fireworks finale.
Selena was born in Lake Jackson on April 16, 1971, and moved with her family to Corpus Christi as a child. Corpus was home base for Selena Y Los Dinos as the band rose to regional prominence in the 1980s and broke through to national and international stardom in the 1900s.
Selena died at age the age of 23 on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi, after being shot by the founder of the Selena fan club. Selena’s gravesite is at Seaside Memorial Park in Corpus.
Selena remains one of Corpus Christi’s biggest attractions for visitors. Particularly on the anniversaries of her birth and death, visitors flock to Corpus to honor the singer, according to the Corpus Christi CVB.
In 1997, the Devary Durrill Foundation and the Selena Foundation dedicated a memorial statue to Selena called Mirador de la Flor, and in 1998, the Quintanilla family opened the Selena Museum in her memory in Corpus Christi.
