TOPEKA (KSNT) – Fiesta Topeka introduced the 2023 Royalty candidates for this year’s Fiesta on Wednesday at Holy Family Catholic School.

The 2023 candidates are:

Lourdes Rodriguez (Lourie)

Lourie, has been an active member of Our Lady of Guadulupe Church. She works as a CNA providing care for those in need, and when she was 5-years-old she was crowned Little Miss LULAC. She has danced with Ballet Folklorico de Topeka and plays the piano, violin and trumpet.

Patricia Monserrat Cortes-Rojas (Monse)

Monse graduated from Hayden High School in 2021, and Washburn Tech in 2022 with a Culinary Arts Degree. She helps her parents with their food truck business and enjoys playing volleyball with family members.

The royalty candidates will participate in the Fiesta parade on July 15. The official announcement of who will be queen will be made at the Fiesta Coronation Ball later that same day.

The 2023 Fiesta will be held from July 18 to July 22 on the grounds of Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Oakland.

This will be the 90th year for the Fiesta. What began in 1933 as a modest, single-day church festival in the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Oakland in Topeka, has evolved into the single most important celebration of Mexican culture and tradition in the Midwest. Fiesta Topeka is a major fundraiser for Holy Family Catholic School.