Lotería

We created an activities section where they would know what things we may have.

We w- decided on Loteria and dominoes for the adults if they wanted.

We ended up getting a really beautiful colored no-bake recipe book of all the different desserts from different heritages throughout the Latin community, which was absolutely amazing.

And so it was all built in.

That's Zaida, who was my first yes.

Then we have Melanie, who's in the stripe, um, halter top.

She's in the middle of our group female, um, picture, and we played Loteria.

The kids had fun.

And I'm Lauren Gilger.

The traditional Mexin- Mexican loteria game features iconic cards like La Sirena or the mermaid, El Sol, the sun, La Dama, the lady.

But our next guest made a name for himself with a version that went viral a few years ago, Millennial Loteria.

In his version, La Sirena is La Selfie, La Dama is La Feminist, El Sol is El Global Warming.

Mike Alfaro is the creative director and writer behind the popular game, and earlier this year he released a new children's book called The Unbreakable Piñata, book 10 of 12 in a series of bilingual kids books he's writing called Si Sabo Kids.

I spoke with Alfaro about writing children's books, Millennial Loteria, and the importance of bilingual education

educationI grew up in a household that spoke Spanish growing up in Guatemala, 'cause I'm not from the United States.

Right.

The Strategic Alliance for Leadership and Social Action, or SOLSA, organized Brownwoods Festival this year.

A favorite among the attendees of the celebration was La Lotería.

The traditional Lotería game originated in Italy and eventually arrived in Mexico by way of Spain in 1769.

Lotería is similar to bingo, but instead of a number being called out, a colorful illustration is drawn from a deck of 54 cards, its name called and card shown to the players.

Loteria is timeless, and it's accessible across generations due to its simplicity.

Each image on the cards shows symbols that have roots in Mexican folklore, preserving Hispanic heritage through play.

Wow.

At my job, we play Loteria, which is kind of funny.

Is it like online version? Yeah.

hmm it was kind of interesting

you hosted some uh playing uh

Yeah, it was Loteria night.

Like bingo

night, but with Loteria.

I love that.

Yeah, well, Mexican Independence Day.

Right, Hispanic Heritage Month.

That's my second job.

Colorful cards, little competition, lot of culture.

If you've never played Loteria, think of it as Mexican bingo, but with pictures instead of numbers.

Our Evan Kruegel shows us an exhibit at Denver Botanic Gardens, putting a different spin on the game.

At the Denver Botanic Gardens, beauty is everywhere.

But beginning this week, visitors will have even more to see as the gardens unveils a first-of-its-kind exhibit called La Loteria Botanica.

It's something that goes deep, deep into our culture.

Karen Rojas Meza says the exhibit is a play on loteria, a traditional Mexican game that's often compared to bingo.

But instead of numbers, players match colorful illustrated cards instead.

You had a plan for these to put on your...

My Loteria.

Loteria.

Okay, it's a tote bag.

Right.

places well yeah they're called uh what are they called i told you it's like rancho or ranch 99 or some shit like that yeah because it used to be called ranch market no yeah we were saying Anyways, so yeah, so I was gonna make the teddy bear into a keychain, which I did.

Fucking cool.

And then I was gonna make the Mexican Barbie into a keychain, and then those two were gonna go on my Loteria bag.