The designer behind the vibrant costumes of Sonoma's Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén

La Luz Center will host the Cinco de Mayo celebration at Larson Park on Sunday, May 7, from noon to 5 p.m.

The day will be filled with music, dance and traditional food.

There will be live performances from Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén and other artists, traditional Mexican dishes and fun activities for the whole family.

The event is an opportunity to experience the beauty and richness of Mexican culture.

For volunteer and tabling opportunities please visit the following link centrolaluz.org, and for general questions please send an email to [email protected].

Larson Park is located at 329 Dechene Ave., Sonoma.

The Cinco de Mayo fiesta planned for Sunday in Sonoma’s Larson Park is set to showcase traditional Mexican food, music and dance performances.

The dancers of Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén of Sonoma Valley make for an especially vibrant attraction, twirling in colorful, ornate dresses to lively music.

The 15-year-old group, started as a senior project at Sonoma Valley High School, was in 2014 proclaimed the city’s official ballet folklorico.

And for over a decade, one woman has created many of the bold, eye-catching costumes worn by dancers during their live performances.

Noemí Vasquez Romero first got involved with Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén roughly 13 years ago when her granddaughters, then ages 7, 9 and 11, joined the program.

Her girls needed skirts for their performances, and instead of buying something, Vasquez Romero sat down at her sewing machine. As a skilled seamstress, she enjoyed the project, and the final product was a costume to behold.

The instructor loved her work, and asked if she would make more for the rest of the girls.

When it comes to traditional dance, each of the 32 states in Mexico has its own signature style for performance clothes. With the mission of celebrating Mexican heritage and culture, director Victor Ferrer’s goal is to represent all of the states in colorful costumes. Eighteen have been fashioned so far.

The styles are as diverse as Mexico itself. Oaxaca is famous for its colorful and detailed embroidery, Jalisco can have equestrian influences, San Luis Potosí designs often use natural inspiration like flowers or waterfalls, for example.

Dresses can be trimmed in white eyelet ruffles or brightly colored satin ribbon. Some have high-necked tops while other dresses fall off the shoulder, depending on each state’s style.

Vasquez Romero’s favorite to create? Jalisco, because the dress was very elaborate and the final result was “amazing,” she said.

It was a bright orange dress with teal accents, and lots of bows and volume. The details were ornate and but came together to make the voluminous outfit.

Ferrer calls Vasquez Romero whenever there’s a new project. He shows her a sample of what he wants in an outfit, and provides her with all of the materials to get to work. She then makes a prototype and Ferrer gives her the green light to make more if he likes them, which he usually does, considering Vasquez Romero’s perfectionist nature.

Vasquez Romero agreed to the gig because she loved seeing her granddaughters participate in the dance troop, knowing it was something she would have enjoyed doing as a child.

She charged $12 per skirt for the group back then, and sometimes the instructor would take the skirts in lieu of a monthly payment for her granddaughters’ classes.

Since then, Vasquez Romero has been the go-to seamstress for the dance group. On and off over the years, she has made roughly 150 dresses for Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén, amounting to countless days and hours of work.

She measures all of the dancers and begins creating the rest of the dresses. Depending on the design, it can take two to three days to finish just one dress, partially because she does it entirely by herself.

“I don’t like anyone to help me because I know what I’m doing,” Vasquez Romero said in her native Spanish. “I’d have to double check if someone did the work exactly how I like it, otherwise I’ll have to rip it apart.”

She takes a lot of pride in her work, and the finished product. Her favorite part of the process is going over her final design.

“I admire it and see how it came out,” Vasquez Romero said. “So they don’t say ‘I don’t like it.’”

She also loves the nature of the costumes being based around movement and vibrancy, and the process of putting those elements into designs.

“I like my work,” Vasquez Romero said. “I like giving shape to the things that I’m making. I feel passionate. If there’s passion, I make it with love.”

Dancers from Grupo Folklórico Quetzalén will be wearing her designs during their performance at Larson Park for Sunday’s fiesta, which runs from noon to 5 p.m.

“I just want to add I’m really happy for everything that I’ve done and the passion I have. My heart gets happy when I see my work in action during the dance,” Vasquez Romero said. “It’s something that I cherish, how lovely it looks when they’re wearing the outfits during the music.”