50 years ago in Expo history: Visa issues held up a mariachi band slated for performance at the aptly named Mariachi Lounge

The Spokesman-Review reported that “much of Spokane’s business community now spends its lunch hour at Expo.”

They were eating at a French restaurant and a German restaurant, among many other options. But an unforeseen problem had developed at the Plaza Mexicana, which housed a Mexican restaurant and a beverage area called the Mariachi Lounge.

“I’m thinking now of calling it the Missing Mariachi Lounge,” owner-operator J.B. Gardea lamented.

That’s because the nine-piece mariachi band was stranded at the U.S.-Mexico border because of visa issues. They had been sitting on the Mexican side of the border at Nuevo Laredo for more than a week because U.S. border officials refused to let them in. Gardea and Expo officials had been trying in vain to solve the problem.

“They want to give up and go home,” Gardea said. “But I have talked them into staying one more day.”

This was the most recent snafu involving the Mexican presence at Expo ’74. Mexico had signed up to have its own pavilion, but withdrew just before the fair opened.

In other Expo news, Marcel Marceau, “the world’s greatest mime,” took the stage at the Opera House.

“Not a word was spoken during Marcel Marceau’s performance … but it didn’t matter in the least,” said the S-R reviewer. “Marceau is a poet whose body is his language and his performance was a rich experience for the capacity audience at the Opera House.”