BILLINGS — Every summer for the past 70 years, South Park comes alive with dancing, food, and music for the Billings Mexican Fiesta, but the event is a deeper story of family legacy, faith, and a tight-knit Hispanic community whose roots run deep through the heart of the South Side.
Watch the video here:
For brothers Tony and Dallas Contreraz, the annual fiesta is more than a community event. It was a stage where their family history unfolded and helped shape who they are today.
"If it wasn't for the fiesta, I probably would not be as in touch with my cultural roots as I am now," said Dallas. “The fiesta was the first stage I ever got an opportunity to perform on. I was probably seven or eight, I got the opportunity to play 'La Bamba.'"
“The fiesta is a very nostalgic thing for me because again, my family has been a part of it since the beginning," added Tony.
The fiesta is one of Billings's longest-running events. Last year’s car show ranked among the top 10 in Montana, attracting over 200 classic and low-rider cars.
The brothers look forward to it each year and now operate as the Fiesta's co-chairs. The Fiesta celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, and the Contrerazes wanted to put something special together. They began looking at having a history display and turned to the Western Heritage Center for information.
"Before you know it, we ended up with close to 400 pictures, all these amazing costumes and decorations and local support behind it, and we were like, 'Man, this is so much stuff for just to display for a few hours at the park,'" said Tony. "We were like, 'No, we need to showcase this and show it to as many people as possible because it's such an amazing thing.'”
Their connection with the museum and positive response from the history display inspired the brothers to take a closer look at their heritage, and eight months later blossomed into "¡Viva La Fiesta!," a full-scale exhibit in the museum's basement that has unearthed hundreds of stories, photographs, and memories from Billings’ Hispanic community.
The exhibit, curated by the museum's collections manager Cecilia Gavinsky, features photos, newspaper clippings, traditional clothing, instruments, family recipes, and even scent stations with spices in Mexican kitchens. It is a tribute to a cultural legacy, all weaved by the same thread.
“Best partners we've ever had in regards to helping us spread our culture and spread our event and spread our history. (Cecilia) helped us do some history digging as well. She set up this beautiful display along with all the volunteers here," said Tony.
The Billings Mexican Fiesta began in the 1950s as a fundraiser to build Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, a spiritual home for many migrant farm workers drawn to the region by jobs in the sugar beet fields and agriculture in the 1920s and 1930s.
“That's really how the fiesta got started, is they needed a place to call their own," said Tony.
"It was a part of the church. That was a big driving force. Everybody's working towards their faith, and then from there, it grew into a culmination of an idea of like, 'Hey, this is a great way to get into the community,'" added Dallas.
Over the years, the fiesta evolved, but it always remained a celebration of identity, heritage and resilience.
The Contrerazes also have numerous personal connections, as their family’s involvement spans generations. Their grandfather, Ynes Contreraz, was one of the original fiesta council members. Their father and uncles were part of Billings’ early Chicano music scene, including prominent Billings band Little Joe y Los Alegres. Member Joe Morin's saxophone now sits proudly in the exhibit.
Music is a large part of the fiesta for the brothers, who are both musicians. They made sure to pay homage to the numerous early contributors, such as Los Crudos, Billings’ first recognized Mexican band, and Chan Romero, the musician who wrote "The Hippy Hippy Shake," a song that was once favored by the Beatles.
"At the beginnings of the fiesta, everything was homegrown. These guys were operating with very limited resources, so when it came to entertainment, they didn't look to outsource it. They did it themselves,” said Tony.
The exhibit pays tribute to the dance group Las Guadalupanos, a staple of Fiesta performances. The choreography passed through generations, starting from their grandmother, Ruth, and uncle, Henry, and eventually updated with their father, Anthony Contreraz.
“¡Viva La Fiesta!” has evolved from an exhibit to a community archive. Most of the items were donated and borrowed from family or community members. Each new discovery uncovered another. It has even led to the brothers conducting on-camera interviews for a documentary.
"It brought a lot of people forward. They'd look at a picture and say, 'Oh, that's my grandma, like, I didn't know she was involved with the fiesta,'" said Dallas.
“That was probably one of the most fun things I've ever done in my life," added Tony. "That's the thing is it started off as something so small, but then I never realized how big of an impact the fiesta had on the community."
The exhibit is now a beautiful celebration of the influence Hispanic culture has had in Billings, but even with hundreds of items on display, the brothers estimate the exhibit only scratches the surface of what is out there. They hope this is the first of many.
"It brought me a lot of pride," said Tony. "Like such a small group of people, and because of their faith and their fortitude, look at what it became."
Much like the name of the exhibit, the stories and South Side heritage will continue to live on for fiestas to come.
“I feel like Tony and I have taken on that responsibility to help continue that push to continue that momentum that (the founders) had the passion for and help give us that passion," said Dallas.
The exhibit runs through July. The 71st Billings Mexican Fiesta will be held at South Park on July 19.
