Zorro, Mexican California’s original champion for the 99%, returns to Oakland December 1, 6-9pm for a reprise of “Zorro by Night,” Peralta Hacienda’s popular gala fundraiser.

Last year, more than 400 of the mythical hero’s fans from across the Bay Area and as far away as North Carolina turned out to celebrate the legend and help Peralta Hacienda narrowly avert a fiscal crisis that nearly caused the treasured museum to shutter its doors. But as the economic slowdown continues to take a toll on vulnerable cultural institutions like Peralta Hacienda, once again the masked legend is coming to the rescue.

New this year, adding even more passion to the celebration, the fiesta will include a spectacular live flamenco with Fanny Ara and her musicians: "Always elegant, evoking unseen forces, legs striding in earthy response, fingers spread in exclamation to the rhythms, provoking a gasp of delight” enthuses dance journalist Renee Renouf.
Flamenco was born and thrived as a voice of protest and hope and as a cultural and emotional expression of the subjugated masses. Zorro is the fantasy film hero of Spanish and Mexican California who robs from the rich and gives to the poor in swashbuckling style, standing for Peralta Hacienda’s commitment to serve Fruitvale and Oakland’s disadvantaged youth and families through its arts and educational programs, and to making sure the public far and wide can discover the East Bay’s rich cultural roots.
 
In addition to flamenco performances, the fiesta includes sumptuous food and drink (including boutique Roland Rosario Cellars wine, Lagunitas beer, and historical Brugal rum cocktails), your own costume accessories, a fabulous new fanfare of Zorro films projected onto the walls of the 1870 Peralta farmhouse (including the TV show!), lines of glowing luminarias, and the thrill of the park’s haunting Historic Core illuminated with floodlights and fire.

Dancing in Zorro films since 1919 has run the gamut from polite minuets to authentic Mexican folk dance. The Antonio Banderas film extravaganza, “The Mark of Zorro,” mixes many styles, including a strong flamenco component.
Peralta Hacienda, where “every human being makes history,” has risen from the ashes of the world economic crisis, and received astounding accolades this year, such as being one of only three new projects nationwide to receive Landmarks of American History program funding—bringing national attention and American school teachers to Oakland's Fruitvale. To continue to thrive, the nonprofit needs to replace its pre-crisis support from municipal government and corporate sources, down 75% over the last two years, with private donations from a wide constituency. It is a jewel in Oakland’s crown.

Peralta Hacienda’s model community gardens, youth nutrition classes, trailblazing tours that highlight stories of local youth and elders, field trips that support Oakland schools, and summer enrichment for kids 4-18 set the standard for community activism, and make it an anchor its East Oakland neighborhood. All activities have a historical/environmental component: Oakland’s diverse youth and adults explore who they are and where they have come from, and how humans have caused ecological changes through history.

In Peralta Hacienda’s Community Exhibit Development Program, groups such as Cambodian Community Development Inc partner with Peralta Hacienda to create striking museum exhibits to tell their amazing stories to the wider public, breaking decades of silence between the generations about war and genocide. Soon to come, artist Walter Hood and 40 African Americans are creating a work that will fill the park and museum with a new view of the African American experience of Oakland. Contributions to the fundraiser will make all these programs possible.
 
The fundraiser will also support the stewardship of one of Northern California’s most important historic sites. This park was the headquarters of the Peralta cattle ranch that covered most of the East Bay when California was part of Mexico. Its indoor and outdoor permanent exhibits tell the story of the intertwined histories of the Peralta and the area’s Native peoples, and the dramatic ecological and cultural transformations of the region, continuing into the present and future. Many of the outdoor exhibits need repairs due to natural wear, tear and weather.
 
To book tickets and find out more, go to peraltahacienda.org or call 510-532-9142. Regular admission starts at $50, with reduced prices for under 30s and over 70s. Peralta Hacienda is located at 2465 34th Avenue in Oakland’s Fruitvale District.