September 11, 2025 Library of Congress Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with Tejas Roots Music and Tambuco Percussion Ensemble

The Library of Congress is honoring Hispanic Heritage Month with a performance by acclaimed musician Nick Gaitán and his band playing Tejas Roots Music and a high-profile concert by Mexico’s Grammy-nominated Tambuco Percussion Ensemble. The monthlong celebration from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, established by Congress, honors the culture, history and contributions of the Hispanic community to the nation.

This year’s lineup features the rich musical traditions of Texas with Tejas Roots Music led by Gaitán and his dynamic acoustic ensemble. As part of the American Folklife Center’s Homegrown Concert Series, this live performance on Sep. 24 celebrates the vibrant musical traditions of Tejano and Chicano culture, tracing their deep roots and regional influences along the Gulf Coast. Register for tickets here.

In addition, the Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division will be releasing 50 previously unpublished audio recordings from the historic PALABRA Archive, a collection of close to 900 original audio recordings of 20th and 21st century poets and writers from Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, the Caribbean, and the Latino community in the United States reading from their works. The new batch includes a remarkable list of literary figures, among them the late Spanish author Almudena Grandes, Puerto Rican author and literary critic José Agustín Balseiro, and Peruvian American author and journalist, Marie Arana. In her recording, Arana reads from her most recent book, “Latinoland: A Portrait of Americas Largest and Least Understood Minority” (2024), and from her other works of fiction and non-fiction.

Meanwhile, the Library’s By the People program invites the public to join thousands of other volunteers in transcribing a collection of Spanish legal documents from the 15th through 19th centuries. Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents has more than 20,000 pages of materials in Spanish, Latin and Catalan in need of volunteer transcription and review, with both English and Spanish instructions on the By the People website, crowd.loc.gov.

Other highlights for this year ’s Hispanic Heritage Month events and activities include:

• 18: The Geography & Map Division, in partnership with the Philip Lee Phillips Society, will hold a “Map Mixer,” where staff will showcase their favorite division projects and collection items, including maps from Latin America. Register for the event here.

• 24 – 26: The American Folklife Center will host a symposium with awardees from the Community Collections Grant Program. Participants include Sonidos de Houston and Los Pleneros de la 21. For the full schedule and list of participants click here.

• 30: The celebrated, Grammy-nominated Mexican contemporary classical percussion ensemble Tambuco returns to the Library’s concert series for the annual Founder’s Day concert. The sold-out event offers Library patrons a dynamic repertoire by Latin American composers. Additional tickets will be released Oct. 16 at 10 a.m., and rush passes will be available at the door beginning at 6 p.m. the night of the concert.

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