My first time at the Rogue Festival was great, but what was greater was that I had the chance to bond with my cousin. This past Friday, instead of attending the usual party or clubbin' with my friends, I decided to take my 17-year-old cousin, Jose, who's new to Fresno to one of the events. I wanted to take him to a cultural event, to show that there is a softer side of Fresno. He noticed how television always portrayed Fresno as a city that's full of crime. I knew it wasn't always that way. Fresno has a lot of great people, who put great events together. But I was afraid he wasn't going to enjoy where I was taking him, since he used to be involved in gang activities and never became in touched with anything cultural.

We went to Arte Americas, they had "Pena La Rouge," where local talents performed. There was poetry reading, saxophone playing, and singing folklore music. Before the show began, Jose noticed the art hanging on the walls and on the pedestals. He was very excited, he loves to draw and paint, and his eyes were wide open and asked if he could wander on his own to see the art. I let him go for 20 minutes. Then it was show time, the show began with poetry, one poet who I thought was amazing was Bryan Medina. It was the first time for myself to see his performance. I noticed that one of his poems made Jose cry. The poem was encouraging to those who think they can't succeed, but will. I think this poem affected Jose because he'd been in and out of trouble since he was 10. He finally heard a poem that related to his feelings.

Throughout the evening when the sax was played by Richard Silva, the audience was bobbing their heads and tapping their feet, including Jose. The ambiance was great and the people there were very friendly. I'm glad I went to The Rogue Festival, I think it's a positive event to take anyone and very affordable too. Jose enjoyed the event so much, that now he wants me to bring him to all the events, and as long as he stays out of trouble we will definitely keep attending these events.