Commerce Celebrated Saturday With a Vicente Tribute, Folklórico, Norteño — and Neighbors Running for Council
Vicente Chente Franco, a local folklor dance team, and live norteño filled the afternoon. Leonard Mendoza and Jaime Valencia were there with the community.
Commerce spent Sunday the way this city does best: outside, together, and loud with music.
Families packed in for a tribute to Vicente Fernández by impersonator Vicente “Chente” Franco, a local folklórico dance team in full color, and live norteño that kept people on their feet. It was the kind of afternoon that does not need a long explanation. You heard it before you saw it.
El Rey, the dancers, and the band
Franco’s Vicente tribute is built for rooms like this — ranchera that people already know by heart. Parents sang. Grandparents nodded along. Kids danced whether they knew the words or not.
The folklórico team brought the visual half of the celebration: skirts, boots, precision, and pride. Norteño live music closed the loop. Between the three, the event never felt like a program. It felt like a neighborhood party that happened to have a stage.
Candidates in the crowd
Both candidates for Commerce City Council — Leonard Mendoza and Jaime Valencia — were there to enjoy the afternoon with residents, not above them. They mixed with families, watched the show, and stayed for the music. That is the part worth noting: the people asking for votes showed up where the city was already gathered.
Commerce does not separate culture from civic life. A Saturday with El Rey on the speakers and folklor on the floor is also a Sunday when neighbors talk about streets, schools, and who they want at City Hall. Mendoza and Valencia being present put faces on that conversation without turning the celebration into a rally.
Why this afternoon mattered
Events like this are easy to scroll past if you were not there. They are harder to forget if you were. This was Commerce showing its own culture in public — Mexican tradition, local dancers, norteño, and two people running to represent the same streets that were dancing.
If you missed Saturday, the photos and video tell the story better than a headline. If you were there, you already know: the city showed up, the music held, and the candidates stood with the crowd.
