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Manuel Gonzalez has been attending Autumnfest for the second year and enjoys the community and good food. Playing the guitar is a family tradition for him, and he started taking it seriously in high school. He loves performing on stage and seeing people enjoy the music. Being Mexican, he values hard work and sees it as a positive stereotype. His favorite Mexican food is tacos, and he would play at Autumn Fest again for the enjoyment of performing. Okay, your name please and spell it. Manuel Gonzalez, M-A-N-U-E-L-G-O-N-Z-A-L-E-Z. And how many years have you been coming to Autumnfest? This is my second year. It's been pretty good so far. I love the people that come here because they enjoy what we do as a mariachi band. And there's a lot of good food. Can you tell me about how long you've been a mariachi instrument? Do you play? Yes, so it's really a family tradition to play an instrument. Ever since I was a little kid, my family, you know, they always had an instrument playing around the house. And I just was really drawn to the guitar. So I had guitar toys and I didn't really start getting into it seriously until my junior year in high school. I just started practicing and wanted to be good at playing the guitar. Great, that was beautiful. Give me a sec. What's been your favorite part about Autumnfest so far? Really the community and seeing all the people that come together from different parts of the world. But really just today, like celebrating Mexican Independence Day as a Mexican American. I feel like it's not really celebrated over here in the U.S. But yeah, seeing this really makes me feel really, really nice. I don't know what else to ask. Shhh. Um. No. Okay. What's it like to perform on stage in front of all these people? It's, I feel like it's always been a dream that I've had. I'm a performer, you know, at heart. And like I enjoy what I do. I enjoy playing the guitar. And I enjoy really looking at all the people and them smiling because of the music that me and my family are playing. It's almost like a dream come true. Thank you. Is there a song you like to play the most? Um. What? I don't know any songs. Okay, don't answer that. I was going to touch it up. What's your favorite thing about being Mexican? What's my favorite thing about being Mexican? I can't really speak for all Mexicans, but I know for as far as my family and how I was raised, it's like they raised me to think a certain way, which is, you know, hard work gets you anywhere that you want in life. And I think that's like a great mentality to have. I think a lot of Mexicans have that just because there's a lot of stereotypes where like Mexicans are always working and, you know, Mexicans are hard workers. And that's not a bad stereotype because, you know, it's true. But I think that's the best part about being Mexican, just the drives and the mentality that's instilled in our brains. That was beautiful. I think I might use that one. What's your favorite Mexican food? You can never go wrong with tacos, so tacos, top tier food, always. Yes, they are. Will you possibly play Autumn Fest again? Because the money's right. Just kidding. Yeah, most definitely. Like I said, I enjoy doing what I do, and any time I can express, I mean, any time I can exercise that, then I'll always take the opportunity to do it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.