Frozen treats, mariachi trumpets and folklórico skirts took over the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre this weekend as Hemet welcomed what organizers billed as Southern California's first-ever ice cream and paleta festival. The two-day Paleta Festival ran Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 10 p.m. each day, offering families an opportunity to attend a celebration built around Mexican heritage, food and live entertainment.
The festival was founded by Jose Esparza, a Coachella Valley native who told NBC Palm Springs he wanted to celebrate Hispanic and Latino culture while giving families a place to gather outdoors. Evening concert admission started at $35, according to listings on Eventbrite. The lineup mixed family entertainment with live music, mariachi performances, folklórico dancing, escaramuza riders, and, of course, paletas and ice cream.
From the Coachella Valley to the San Jacinto Foothills
Esparza said the idea for the festival grew out of his years living in the Coachella Valley and wanting to bring an ice cream experience to a cooler setting, according to the same NBC Palm Springs report. He found that setting in the Ramona Bowl, a 160-acre natural amphitheater in the Hemet foothills with a 5,000-seat capacity, per the venue's own description on its website, Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre. Playwright Garnet Holme chose the canyon site in 1922 specifically for its acoustics and mountain backdrop.
“When I came to the bowl, I just fell in love with the sights. I just thought we should bring it here,” Esparza told the outlet. The festival, held at 27400 Ramona Bowl Road, introduced the historic venue to a new audience while supporting what NBC Palm Springs described as a Palm Springs resident's dream of celebrating Hispanic and Latino roots in the Inland Empire.
A Venue Steeped in California History
The Ramona Bowl is best known for hosting the outdoor play “Ramona” every year since 1923. The production returns each spring, according to the amphitheater's own account. The Paleta Festival marked a departure from that long-running spring tradition, bringing a different kind of large-scale cultural gathering to the same grounds in September.
Ahead of the main event, organizers hosted a community preview on September 10 at Oryz Cafe in Hemet, partnering with the Valley Community Pantry on a food giveaway alongside live performances by local groups Luna Roja and The Tabu Band, according to a video posted on Facebook.
Roots in Hispanic Heritage and Local Demographics
The paleta itself carries its own deep history. The modern Mexican ice pop traces back to the 1930s and 1940s in Tocumbo, Michoacán, where a paleta industry developed, according to a history published by L.A. Taco. That tradition is also linked to La Michoacana shops.
With the inaugural festival now behind them, organizers have not yet said whether the Paleta Festival will return to the Ramona Bowl in future years, and details on overall attendance and vendor turnout from the two-day run had not been released.
