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The City of Snyder recently received a Humanities Texas rural grant to host its inaugural Mexican Independence Day Celebration, a community festival celebrating the cultural heritage, traditions, and history of Mexico and the local Mexican American community. The event will take place on September 19, 2026. Through live mariachi music, cultural presentations, storytelling, and educational activities, the program will explore the historical significance of Mexican Independence Day while highlighting the enduring influence of Mexican culture in West Texas.
Members of our grants team spoke with Brad Overcash, deputy city secretary of the City of Snyder, to discuss the upcoming program.
Interview with Deputy City Secretary Brad Overcash
What inspired the City of Snyder to launch this inaugural Mexican Independence Day Celebration?
In 2020, census data showed that 49 percent of our population was Hispanic, but we weren't seeing that represented at programs. Leadership began brainstorming ways to connect with the Hispanic community. In May 2026, we decided to hold a salsa contest to dip our toe in and see if there was any interest. We saw this group turn out in a big way. We hosted a two-hour event in the Downtown Plaza area, with local restaurants showcasing their salsas and more than a hundred people coming by to taste them. It told us there is a need here, so we started planning the Mexican Independence Day and Cultural Celebration.
We will be doing a lot of cultural preservation and celebration, introducing this event to members of our community who may be unfamiliar with Hispanic culture. It's grown into an event where we're making space for people at the table. We're storytelling and preserving culture, not only for the residents who are here but also for the younger generation, so that's exciting for us. We think it's important that future leaders know how to represent all parts of our community.
What traditions or customs will visitors experience during the celebration?
We have a lot still in the planning phase, but we do have some concrete details to show our efforts to connect the event to the history of Mexican Independence Day and Mexican culture. We are partnering with Scurry County Library to host a storyteller from El Paso. She will tell two stories: one about Día de los Muertos and another cute story about a bird with low self-esteem who finds his confidence. Both are going to be great. The storyteller dresses in elaborate costumes as she tells these stories, so people will have an immersive, fun experience.
We are also hosting a mariachi group from Lubbock. In addition to their performance, they'll talk about their charro outfits, their instruments, and the music they play. We'll also display signs that provide audiences with more historical and cultural context. While this is celebratory music, it also carries family history and heritage, and we want to make sure audiences get to experience that as well.
Additionally, attendees will be able to sample Mexican food from some of our local vendors. We will have one woman making tortillas on-site, as well as a mechanical bull, a dunk booth, train rides, and a band from Dallas for a street dance at the end of the evening. Attendees will experience music, culture, and food, play a little bit of cornhole, and hopefully have a really great time while understanding what makes us all human rather than focusing on what makes us different.
What would you like first-time attendees to remember most about the experience?
The City of Snyder is very welcoming, and the city celebrates our diversity. We're working to build this path forward for all of us. It's going to take all of us, and we really want everyone to feel they have a place here and that they're welcome.
What or who makes your work possible?
I'm so glad you asked this question because the City of Snyder is just now getting involved in hosting these types of events, so this is a relatively new experience for us. It has taken everyone from our city manager to our public works to plan and pull this event together. I think that's been really good for us because it's helped with team building. From emergency management closing our streets and having a safety plan for us, to our officers providing security, to our administrative staff meeting with some of the business owners—it truly does take a village. One of the big concerns when planning the Mexican Independence Day Celebration was making sure we weren't appropriating the holiday or using it as an excuse to have a big party. We wanted to stay very rooted in the culture, and Humanities Texas has allowed us to do that.
In 2025, Humanities Texas launched a new grant program for organizations based in Texas counties with populations of 60,000 residents or fewer. Our rural grants support educational, historical, and cultural organizations offering public humanities programs to rural communities throughout the state. To learn more, visit the Grants section of our website.