Virus-Battered Mexico City Sees Mariachi Bands Return To Streets

(Bloomberg) -- (Editor’s note: This is the eighth in our “Stories of Summer.” For more, see this link on the Bloomberg terminal, visit @QuickTake on Twitter or see the YouTube playlist.)

Mariachi bands usually liven the streets of Mexico City with their matching embroidered suits and songs played on trumpets, guitars and violins. But starting in March there was no one to watch them perform as the city’s plazas emptied and group gatherings came to a standstill.

Mexico City has been hit hard by the pandemic, with the highest count of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the country. In mid-June, Mayor Claudia Scheinbaum delayed plans for a gradual reopening as cases rose rapidly. During the first three months of the pandemic, Marco Antonio Mojardin Peña, 39, who has worked as a mariachi for 18 years, temporarily relocated to Xalatlaco, a town in Mexico State, where his family lives, because he couldn’t afford to stay in Mexico City.

Now, Mexico City is gradually reopening and mariachi bands are allowed to play a few hours each week. Still, it’s only 10% of the work available before the pandemic, Mojardin Peña said. In this video, Mojardin Peña’s talks about how his band, Valle de Mexico, which was founded by his father and uncle 35 years ago, has found a way to entertain people during unprecedented times.

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