This Valentine’s Day, Caltech Hispanic & Latino Association (CHLA) went out together for a banda night!

If you’ve never been to a jaripeo, let me start with a little explanation. A jaripeo is a traditional Mexican rodeo-style event centered around bull riding, live regional Mexican music, and dancing. Its roots trace back to rural Mexico, where charros (Mexican cowboys) would show their riding skills during community celebrations. Over time, jaripeos evolved into cultural events that combine rodeo traditions with live performances from banda, norteño, tamborazo, and other Mexican regional styles.

The music is loud (yay!) and VERY rhythm heavy. Banda is composed from instruments like trumpets, trombones, tubas, and drums. When the music starts, people fill the dance floor for traditional partner dances. There is lots of spinning, boot stomping, and coordinated footwork.

The outfits are my personal favorite part. Cowboy hats, boots, embroidered belts, fitted jeans, and red or sparkly Valentine’s-themed looks were worn for this particular night. 

This year, CHLA organized a trip to Pico Rivera’s Sports Arena for their Valentine’s themed banda jaripeo. This has become one of my favorite yearly traditions since I joined the CHLA executive commitee. 

We were able to take 25 students, with CHLA subsidizing tickets and covering Ubers to make the event as accessible as possible. One of our biggest goals as CHLA when it comes to planning events has been making sure finances aren’t the reason someone misses out on community, culture, and a break. 

For many of us, events like this feel like a bridge between home and college. Being in such an academically intense environment, it’s easy to spend most of our time in labs or working.

For Valentine’s Day, we had our friends, culture, and dancing, which are some of the few things CHLA stands for.