On a bright sunny afternoon, I walk into a historic 100-year-old building that comes to life with melodic Spanish music by Mariachi Monarca and the earthy smell of matcha.
Matcha + Mariachi was an event held at Frank’s Place on Sunday, July 19, 2026 that was put together by Christine Rose, owner of local art studio Maarte, to help raise funds and awareness for the Warnors Theatre.
Rose worked together with other local businesses such as Frida Cafe, Hapa California Coffee, BB’s Gelateria, Dad’s Cookies, and more, to attract locals to the event.
Rose stated, “I love matcha, and before Matcha and Mariachi, I started having Matcha After Hours at Maarte. One of the performers from Mariachi Monarca came up to me and said they would love to perform at one of my events. My studio is really small for their group of 10, so I told him maybe we would have an event outside the studio, and it just ended up blossoming into something more. It started with one vendor, and then it spiraled in a good way into more vendors and activities, plus fundraising for Warnors Theatre was the cherry on top.”
Guests could choose between two experiences, like the matcha passport. This experience includes four pours from the various matcha vendors, catching live music from Mariachi Monarca, a sticker, and two raffle tickets for prizes drawn at the end of the event.
The second option was the Mariachi Experience, which let guests enjoy live music from Mariachi Monarca, shop local matcha vendors, and obtain one raffle ticket for the prize drawing at the end.
“The event was an amazing thing for Fresno as there aren’t many events to enjoy that include mariachi music around town,” said Stephen Diaz, an attendee of the event. Diaz also stated, “I got a baseline ticket since I’m not a big matcha fan, but I got a naranja espresso from Frida’s and it was a super cool drink that had orange juice, espresso, and agave!”
When Mariachi Monarca hopped on stage, the audience would cheer and let out un grito, as they sang along to their different songs. Songs like “Es Demasiado Tarde” by Ana Gabriel, “Motivo” by Vincente Fernandez, “Risk It All” by Bruno Mars, and more were all performed to the crowd.
A member of Mariachi Monarca, Gael Mayorga Merlo added, “We love to showcase the power in numbers hence our big group…We hope to show that mariachi music is very much alive here in the Central Valley, and hope to show that you do not have to spend hundreds to have mariachi music. Which is why we aim to do community events and concerts where tickets are priced more accessible and hopefully even free.”
Overall, it was a pretty fantastic event that brought me back to my latine roots with some of the songs they sang. Frida Café’s owner Albee Sánchez even came out of their Mariachi retirement to sing a couple of tunes to celebrate his dad’s birthday. If you would like to keep up to date with Maarte’s events you can keep up with them on their Instagram page, @maarte.fresno.
