1.3 million responded and thousands descended on girl's quinceanera after dad accidentally invited 'everyone' on Facebook
Quinceanera is a significant celebration in the lives of 15-year-old Latin girls. The quinceañera parties have become common in the United States due to the country having a sizeable Latin American population. Some of these parties might be lavish but the world probably never witnesses a quinceanera party quite like this. According to NBC News, when Rubi Ibarra Garcia turned 15, her quinceanera party was grand, to say the least. Over 20,000 guests appeared at a ranch near La Joya, a small state of San Luis Potosi in central Mexico.
Little did people know that all those guests turned up at the venue because of a little mistake made by Garcia's father, Crescencio. The dad accidentally invited more than 1.3 million guests through a Facebook invite for the party and millions of them responded to the invite. On the day of the celebration, when Garcia showed up at the venue wearing a fuchsia gown and a tiara, she was overwhelmed to see the massive crowd attending her coming-of-age party.
However, the celebration continued with some traditional ceremonies like a Mass where a local priest delivered a sermon to counsel Garcia to remain humble despite getting a lot of attention. Some Mexican bands like Los Cachorros and La Heredera appeared to perform at the party and guests were served with traditional Mexican chilaquiles, rice with chocolate mole and beans. Toward the end of the ceremony, Garcia and Crescencio also shared a father-daughter dance. The party that took place in 2016, grabbed the attention of local and international media as well. Crescencio and his wife Anaelda also filmed a little video invitation on YouTube, promising a horse race during the ceremony, offering 10,000 pesos to the winner.
Telemundo's Ingrid Barrera was able to get an interview with a random party-goer, Ima Clausen, who had driven for 5 days from Arizona to attend Garcia's quinceanera. "We bring her many well-wishes, blessings and a $150-dollar gift," Clausen told the outlet, per NBC News. Images and videos from the party spread all over social media outlets and even got celebrities talking about it. Local businesses also took the opportunity to offer wireless internet services to people for $5 an hour. A few big Mexican companies stepped in to sponsor the humongous event as the state's governor made an appearance at the party, gifting Garcia a series of literary classics and a new computer.
Garcia also received a 2016 Chevrolet Spark from a mayor of a neighboring state to help her drive to school. According to The Guardian, famed actor Gael Garcia Bernal made a parody video of the invitation. Garcia additionally got an offer to appear on the soap opera "The Rose of Guadalupe." Mexican airlines company Interjet also published a promotion offering 30% discounts on flights to San Luis Potosi, under the slogan, “Are you going to Rubi’s party?” There was a bright side to all the media attention that the region received after Garcia's party. Her neighbors hoped the media attention would help improve the poor community where mobile phone coverage was unavailable. “More than anything, this can bring attention to us so people can see the unemployment,” a local resident, Rutilio Ibarra, told the outlet.