It all started more than 450 years ago when Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado, a particularly parched Spanish explorer, prayed for
water.

According to the legend, he stood on the bank of the desperately dry
Santa Cruz River and prayed to St. John the Baptist to bring the rains
to help the crops. On June 24, 1540, it rained, and in a demonstration
of his faith, Coronado declared that from that day forward, the summer
rains would come on June 24 every year.

Today, it is a Tucson tradition to celebrate the beginning of the
rainy monsoon season on June 24 in honor of St. John. Originally
introduced to our region by Spanish missionaries in the 1600s, the
celebration was resurrected and reintroduced to Tucson by residents of
the westside neighborhoods in 1998. Thus, this year’s event will be the
12th annual Dia de San Juan Fiesta.

Carlos Romero, an aide to Ward 1 City Councilwoman Regina Romero and
one of the event organizers, explains that the day’s festivities will
begin with a blessing, followed by a procession along the river made up
of elders in the community (and anyone else who wants to join in). For
kids, there will be activities like face-painting and piñatas,
plus a fire truck doing water displays. There will also be booths set
up by local organizations.

“There will be information on everything from the food bank to
mosquitoes,” says Romero.

Local musicians will be on hand to entertain, including mariachis
and Tucson native Gabriel Francisco playing classical guitar. Dancing
will be provided by Folklórico Danzacultura Mexicana, a
nonprofit organization that has given kids the opportunity to show off
their dancing talents for 15 years.

But the real attraction, Carlos Romero says, is the Mexican
rodeo—the charreada. With events for both men and women, the
charreada offers a chance to demonstrate traditional roping, riding and
ranching skills. A festival of its own, the charreada incorporates
traditional music (like mariachi) into competitive and celebratory
horse events performed by charros, charras and vaqueros (cowboys and
cowgirls).

The main event at the charreada is the escaramuza horse dancing.
Escaramuza literally translates into “skirmish” and is meant to evoke
the image of the soldaderas or adelitas, female soldiers who fought and
died beside the men in the Mexican Revolution. Escaramuzas perform
intricate routines at high speeds while riding sidesaddle. Relying on
precision timing to keep them safe, the escaramuzas perform cruces
(crossing through each other) and giros (spinning 180 or 360 degrees).
The group performing on Wednesday, Florecitas del Desierto, is located
here in Tucson and participates professionally in state, regional and
national levels of competition. The Florecitas del Desierto, like all
competing escaramuza groups, must adhere to strict traditional
guidelines. This means that everything—from their clothing, to
the tack for their horses, to their performance music—must be
authentic and traditional.

The fiesta has existed for more than a decade as a way to remind
residents of Tucson of the importance of water in our desert—and
this year, event organizers are aiming to include as many people as
possible in the celebration. “Everybody is welcome,” says Carlos
Romero. “We want everyone to make it, not just those from the
westside.”

The event is open to all Tucson residents and aims to celebrate
Tucson’s history and culture as a whole city—just in time for el
chubasco, the monsoon rains.

“Basically,” concludes Carlos Romero, “it’s a chance to have a good
time, eat some great food and enjoy a Tucson tradition.”

This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.