Attending Pachanga Fest 2009: Essential information

What: Pachanga Music Festival, year two.

Where: Fiesta Gardens, 2100 Jesse E. Segovia St., overlooking the lagoon on Lady Bird Lake. 'The biggest thing is of course that the site is different,' organizer Rich Garza says. 'We love Waterloo Park (last year), but Fun Fun Fun is in Waterloo and ACL is in Zilker, and we would love to be the signature festival for Fiesta Gardens.'

When: Doors at noon Saturday. Last music act scheduled to play to 10:30 p.m.

Stages: There will be three. Garza says big names will be at one end, on the Pavilion stage (headliner Michael Salgado, Mariachi Altenas, Chris Perez Band), and more progressive or alternative Latin music will alternate between the Plaza stage (Charanga Cakewalk, Davíd Garza, Gaby Moreno) and the Yerba stage (Mexican Institute of Sound, Maneja Beto, Brownout).

What's new: 'We really want to celebrate all these different aspects of Latino music,' Garza says. Which means the indie-plus-Latin style of Cordeo (interview, Page 11) and someone like four-time Tejano Music Award winner Salgado, a singer/accordionist born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and raised in West Texas who brought Ramon Ayala-style norteño/ranchera music to a younger generation. Expect plenty of accordion and bajo sexto.

For the kids: Pachanga folks expanded the offerings for kids this year. Niños Rock Pachanga — from noon to 4 p.m. — will include an arts and crafts area and an Annie Ray photo booth. Plus, artists such as Jake Owen from Charanga Cakewalk and Alex Vallejo from Vallejo will perform instrument demos while Anthropos and El Tule will play for the 'kids dance party.'

In and out: People can leave and come back, which they couldn't last year, making it easier to bring the kids in the early afternoon and take them home to a sitter at night.

Tickets: At Frontgate Tickets outlets (frontgatetickets.com), Estrada Cleaners on East Seventh Street and Turntable Records on South First Street. Single tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate. The Family Four pack is $45 in advance only; kids younger than 12 free with a paid adult. An air-conditioned VIP area with food, drinks and a happy hour from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. costs $60 a ticket.

Information: And full schedule at pachangafest.com.

Final words: 'We want people who want to see specific artists, but we also want folks who just like to go out and dance,' Garza says.