Above: Fiesta Fresh Market team members (l-r): Stephanie, Luz, Marie and Angie. Photo by Justin Heyes/Moonloop Photography.
By Ryan Neave
On your next trip to Fiesta Fresh Market for Latin inspired ingredients, you may discover you’ve stepped into Delaware’s hottest new live-music hub.
The market, on Dupont Highway in New Castle, specializes in affordable, locally grown produce and Latin groceries. Owned and operated by Jose Aguilar and his family — his father, Silvino; his mother, Alejandra; and his sister, Maria — it opened in 2024. Since May of 2025, the store has also served as a venue for The Mercadito concert series, bringing Aguilar’s background in the music business into the aisles of Fiesta Fresh.
Inspiration for the series came from NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. Aguilar, who also manages the record label VPS, was inspired while attending a Tiny Desk recording session in September 2023 with his label’s artist, Danny Lux. The session gave him the idea to use his New Castle market to highlight up-and-coming Latin artists with intimate, acoustic concerts.
That first official concert at Fiesta Fresh last year featured artist Julio Caesar after Aguilar got word that Caesar would be traveling from a gig in NYC to one in Florida. He arranged through Caesar’s manager for his band to stop in at the market for a quick performance. They agreed, and the event was promoted on the store’s social media. The band brought in 30-50 people.
Momentum for the performances picked up after Fernando Hurtado, an independent journalist, covered the series in his newsletter and on his social media channels. Other outlets then started touting the series, including NPR, CNN, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, Univision, and Telemundo, among others.
The publicity prompted Aguilar to start filming and uploading the performances to social media platforms. As a result, the Mercadito concerts have become a hit on Facebook and Instagram, garnering thousands of views.
Artists who have performed at Fiesta Fresh include Games We Play, Luna Luna Band, Selines, and Fukada. Community Chapstick, a local rock band who performed at Fiesta Fresh this year, not only enjoyed the experience but benefitted from it. “When Jose asked us to perform, it was a no-brainer,” says Donovan Burt, lead singer for Community Chapstick. “The market itself is beautiful for the cameras, and the community there is wonderful. We gave out several autographs. It was an absolute gamechanger and magnificent opportunity. Viva Fiesta Fresh!”
Since performing at the market, Community Chapstick booked shows across the country with acts like Me First and The Gimme Gimmes. Additionally, the band and Aguilar have recently collaborated on a benefit show to help families affected by ICE.
An Unpredictable Schedule
“We’ve started seeing the series get popular and hope for it to keep growing,” Aguilar says. “Major record labels like Universal, Sony, and Warner have reached out to make Mercadito part of their release rollouts, similar to platforms like Tiny Desk, or even a Colours show.”
The music schedule at Fiesta Fresh is sporadic because most of the acts are on tour. “Sometimes they are in the middle of the week at 11 a.m.,” Aguilar says. “We’re trying to schedule one a month that we advertise to the public, and they are very much random.” He says this unpredictable aspect adds to the novelty of coming to the market and randomly catching a show.
