Grupo Nuu Yuku perform La Danza de los Diablos, a sacred dance of the Mixteco community from Oaxaca, Mexico, at a festival supported by a 2017 Living Cultures grant from ACTA. Photo: Amy Kitchener/ACTA.

Supporting California's thriving cultural communities

“Canciones del San Joaquín” to Showcase Powerful New Musical Works from Valley Composers
Live concert presented by ACTA and Radio Bilingüe celebrates the musical talents of artists in the San Joaquin Valley, honoring cultural traditions of Greater Mexico.
Fresno, CA — The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) and Radio Bilingüe are proud to present Canciones del San Joaquín, a one-night-only concert celebrating the cultural and musical richness of the San Joaquin Valley. The event will take place on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 5:00–8:00 PM (doors open at 4:00 PM) at the Fresno Memorial Auditorium, 2425 Fresno St, Fresno, CA.
Tickets are , and youth 18 and under are free.
As part of ACTA’s Sounds of California: San Joaquín Valley initiative, Canciones del San Joaquín will debut ten newly commissioned works by a diverse group of local composers and singers, representing a broad spectrum of regional and diasporic genres, including Chilena Tradicional, Hip-Hop/Mixtec Rap, Latin Rock, Afro Latin Jazz, Mariachi, Norteño, Nuevo Canto, Ranchera Mexicana, and Son Jarocho. A recorded compilation will be available after the concert performance.
Featured performers include:
Steve Alcalá Rumba 32
Luis Arturo Campos, Los Kirrines del Norte
Los Fresnanitos, with Cesar Castro
Agustin Lira, Agustín Lira & Friends
Juan Morales, Mariachi Mestizo
Sofía Plummer, Las Damas del Valle
Gerardo Ramírez, Los Hijos de San Juan Mixtepec
Marilyn Rodríguez, Cambio de Rumbo
Miguel Villegas Ventura, Una Isu
The San Joaquin Valley is home to one of the largest and most culturally diverse Greater Mexico populations in the country. From songs accompanying migrant farmworker movements to hometown family-run mariachi bands, music here is more than entertainment—it’s a form of celebration, resistance, and survival. Canciones del San Joaquín brings this history into the present, offering a rare opportunity to hear new, original works that reflect life in the Valley today. These songs tell stories of migration, identity, joy, stru

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Across California, traditional artists sustain the living practices that connect us: music, dance, storytelling, and material arts rooted in care. This season, we invite you to join us in sustaining California’s traditional arts — where listening, transforming, and learning keep culture alive.

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The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, a 2008 Living Cultures Grant Program awardee, hosts a National Dishes series of culinary workshops. Photo: Lily Kharrazi/ACTA.

Our Mission

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future. Since our founding in 1997, we have distributed more than $7 million in grants to more than 1,660 artists and organizations throughout the state.

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Artist Marty Natividad leads a Danza Azteca class at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and California State Prison in Corcoran as part of ACTA's Arts in Corrections Program. Photo: Peter Merts, courtesy of the California Arts Council.

Supporting California’s living cultural heritage for more than 20 years

With more than a dozen staff members, ACTA is a statewide and national leader dedicated to supporting cultural practitioners and their communities. We travel up and down California from our offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, reaching every corner of the state. We aim to serve as a bridge between cultural communities through our programs, providing opportunities for exchange, collaboration, and connection to new resources.

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Master artist Flavio “Paps” Alvarez and his grandnephew and apprentice Carlos Gonzales—both from Los Angeles—participated in ACTA's 2009 Apprenticeship Program focusing on their work in Garifuna Wanaragua song and dance. Photo: Sherwood Chen/ACTA.

Our vision is for a culturally and racially equitable California

In our increasingly fractured society, we believe ACTA plays a critical role in shaping a positive future for California where the unique value of every culture is respected, sustained, and appreciated. Through our programs, services, and funding opportunities for the traditional arts, we are weaving a more integrated, just, and empathetic social fabric across California.

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