USD Ready to Celebrate at April 27 Linda Vista Multicultural Fair and Parade

The 34th annual Linda Vista Multicultural Fair and Parade is set to take place on Saturday, April 27 on Linda Vista Road, between Comstock and Ulric Street. From the University of San Diego campus entrances, it’s just a matter of turning left and in less than five minutes, USD community members can enjoy a free, family-friendly and fun-filled day of pride, culture and great food and entertainment.

For all Linda Vista residents in attendance, they’ll get to see some of the many ways that USD is a strong and visible community partner. Let us count the ways in which USD will be present Saturday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The theme of this year’s fair and parade is “Linda Vista: Celebrating Our Youth” and is intended to promote cultural awareness and understanding of the rich heritage that makes up Linda Vista.

The university’s parade participants will be the NROTC San Diego Color Guard, USD Vice President for University Advancement Rick Virgin, Kathleen Rapp and Kennedy Virgin-Rapp, USD’s mascot, Diego Torero, the USD Cheer Team, a total of 107 Torero Scholar-Athletes representing men and women’s basketball, men and women’s soccer and women’s swimming and diving, USD’s Folklorico and Mariachi Association (FAMA) dancers and music performers, the USD Drumline, and USD student organizations, People of the Islands Club and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (MEChA).

University-affiliated booths during the fair include those hosted by the Karen and Tom Mulvaney Center for Community Awareness and Social Action, USD Community and Government Relations — their booths will feature youth opportunities on campus, Border Immersion Program and a Women’s Group — as well as USD Legal Clinics, the USD Graduate Nursing Student Association, the USD Men’s Soccer team conducting an interactive skills clinic for youth in collaboration with Noel Musicha at Baca Park, MEChA and the USD Military and Veterans Program.

Entertainment will be a big part of the city’s celebration at the fair and three USD entities, the NROTC San Diego for the Presentation of the Colors, Folklorico and Mariachi Association (FAMA) and the People of the Islands Club, will perform for the crowd.

And if all that wasn’t enough to show USD’s Torero Blue spirit at this event, know, too, that graduating USD senior Tiffany Zhang, who on Thursday served as USD’s President for a Day, chose to donate the $1,000 she received for her role to the Linda Vista Multicultural Fair and Parade. An official check presentation will happen on Saturday. We hope to see plenty of Torero blue at Saturday’s festivities to celebrate building community with those who live, work and play in Linda Vista.

— Ryan T. Blystone