Youth-led Hue Music and Arts Festival returns to Coachella this weekend

Festival season is upon us, and one youth-run event in Coachella aims to be an alternative to the bigger festivals happening in the desert while spotlighting local musicians and artists.

Hue Music and Arts Festival makes its return Saturday after a three-year hiatus. Held at Veterans' Park, the festival is free to attend, and local performers will take the stage, including rock bands and spoken word poets. There will be artist booths, local food vendors and other activities.

The event is organized by the Alianza Youth Organizing Council (YO-C), which consists of students from West Shores, Desert Mirage and Coachella Valley high schools.

Alianza is a Coachella Valley-based nonprofit organization that focuses on the predominantly Latino eastern side of the valley, working with adults and youth to empower their engagement within the community.

“Organizing The Hue has given me the opportunity to meet and connect with youth from other schools,” Melanni Robles, YO-C member and senior at West Shores High School, said in a press release. “The skills I’ve gained through planning such a large event will serve me for the rest of my life.”

Alianza youth coordinator Karina Andalon said the YO-C handles festival planning, stage managing and other operational duties. The youth members delegate these tasks among each other.

They also come together to vote for the festival theme. Past ones have included dreamers and women empowerment. For this festival, the members decided on a monarch butterfly theme.

Andalan said they chose the monarch butterfly because they are colorful, vibrant and are known to migrate, which represents a diverse immigrant community.

Andalon is not only a youth coordinator for Alianza, but is also a YO-C alum as well.

“My younger self would've never thought it was possible that I would return to Alianza to continue uplifting our communities’ culture, art, and music, no longer as a YO-C member, but now as the staff coordinator organizing my favorite event, The Hue,” she said in a press release.

The festival runs from 2 to 9 p.m. Performances will take place on one stage while attendees are free to roam the park grounds filled with artisanal booths and plenty of food offerings, from hot dogs to vegan tacos.

Members of YO-C recruited some of the small businesses that are participating, while others heard about it through word of mouth and applied.

If you go

What: The Hue Music and Arts Festival

When: 2-9 p.m. Saturday, April 1

Where: Coachella Veterans’ Memorial Park, 1500-1598 Fourth Street, Coachella

How much: Free

Coverage of nonprofits in the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun is supported by a grant from the CIELO Fund through the Inland Empire Community Foundation. Kevin Caparoso is a features intern who covers arts and life around the Coachella Valley. His internship is funded by the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @kevydean or email him at KCaparoso@gannett.com.