SANGER – SAM Academy has now taken the final bow on a first-of-its-kind summer market series.
On the evening of Sept. 2, the Sanger Bible Church parking lot came to life as community members enjoyed the season’s last SAM Academy Summer Night Bazaar. Themed around the upcoming Mexican Independence Day, the event combined musical performances, an assortment of local vendors and even some prize raffles.
This event series, which has taken place on the first Wednesday of each month since July, was largely an experiment for SAM Academy to raise funds for some of its programs. With insights gained and memories made, the night brought a bittersweet feeling for academy office manager Liz Barrera, who played a large role in organizing the events.
“We really want to make this a yearly summer bazaar, and maybe even start a little earlier in May and just kind of keep it going,” said Barrera in an interview. “It’s just sprung a lot more ideas, so I guess now it’s really time to sit down and think about what we’re going to do next.”
Just like the previous markets, the first two hours gave attendees time to shop around and chow down. Once the sun began to set, people took their seats to take in the night’s performances, ranging from folklórico dancers, pop covers, mariachi and more.
While past markets have taken on a more laid back and intimate feel for some of its performances, this final night saw each group dressed in full attire.
“Our performers are all in costume today, and our mariachi is going to be all in their traje (suits),” Barrera said. “Usually, they’re just kind of casual when they’re performing, but today it’s more focused, and it’s all in honor of Mexican Independence Day.”
With the market series now wrapped, the next exciting venture for SAM Academy will come through its Mariachi Los Caballitos group, who in December will be opening for Grammy award-winning bands Mariachi Los Camperos in Visalia and Mariachi Divas in Downey.
“It’s an honor, especially with how they started out, some of them not ever playing an instrument before,” Barrera said. “To be at this point and see how much they’ve grown, how our instructors are now and the way they’re formulating things … we hope that at some point we can even start hosting some workshops for Central California.”
Though she noted that any future events are still very much in the idea phase, Barrera said that the community could potentially look forward to a Halloween-themed market or some other fun events that can help raise funds for the academy.
