An affinity for cars may seem like a personal hobby that will not relate to all, but local J.B. Garcia describes his love for cars in words that are very relatable to any Fort Stocktonite looking for a way to enjoy the weekend in town. You may see Garcia’s 1984 Chevy Monte Carlo on the Fort Stockton Barrio Fest flyers posted around town. That is because he will be this year’s host at the Fort Stockton Barrio Fest Car Show sponsored by Valadez Law Firm.

The show will take place in the parking lot of the Pecos County Annex Building at 200 South Nelson Street on Saturday, Sept. 17, starting at 10 a.m. Garcia’s admiration for cars has been a lifelong hobby but most importantly, Garcia explains that he has been able to join other car clubs which help to build a sense of community.

The car culture has been in the Latino community for many years dating back to the 1940s when veterans were purchasing cars with World War II money transforming vintage models into hot rods, and the pachuco history of Texas which followed into the late 1970s with the rise of low riders. The current trend of the Trokiando subculture has spread like wildfire on social media platforms. But why are these types of events synonymous with living in el barrio?

The barrio is a term usually used by Spanish-speaking inhabitants to define neighborhoods or wards of cities that are commonly defined by social, architectural, or socio-economic areas. In Fort Stockton we have Blueberry Hill, Little Mexico, or Barrio El Sovaco, and the area around Fidel’s Grocery Store, or as a local resident used to call it, “la tienda de barrio.”

The Fort Stockton Community Theatre will be hosting Barrio Fest, and families to come out and see the lowriders and bombita cars, enjoy food set up by vendors, listen to music from El Paso’s Tejano Radio Station, street dance with performers Nunie Rubio and the Texas Tornadoes, or play a game of loteria hosted by Frontier CASA.

The Court Appointed Special Advocates is a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect. The loteria fundraiser by Frontier CASA will be set up at the Fort Stockton Community Action Agency building on Young Street from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

These events will be open to the public, come out Sept. 15-18 at all these family events that will highlight the sense of community the barrio brings to Fort Stockton.