Elon Musk Was Spotted At Charro Days in South Texas With His Youngest Son — And He Seemed To Really Enjoy His Espiropapa
It’s not everyday you witness something completely unexpected — but we’re getting that feeling seeing photos of SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk enjoying an espiropapa walking around the Charro Days festivities in South Texas.
The Charro Days Festival is a celebration that occurs before Lent every year between border cities Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
The festivities officially begin with a “grito” or shout — bringing on tons of parades, music and really good food. The celebration started in 1938, and officially honors charros, or Mexican horse riders or cowboys. And there are costumes, too: some men choose to dress up in their “charro best,” including sombreros de charro, while women may opt to wear a Huipil.
The Sombrero Festival is a big part of Charro Days, stretching for three days and held in Washington Park. It features tons of musical performers like Tejano, Norteño, and rock bands, a jalapeño-eating contest, and tons of other activities — even former President Obama attended in 2008.
Musk surprised onlookers by walking through Sombrero Festival on Saturday, February 26 with his youngest son X Æ A-Xii in his arms.
Another notable detail? He enjoyed an enormous espiropapa and was very relatable — at least for around five minutes. Of course, Twitter exploded with responses to the Elon-espiropapa love affair, with one user writing, “Guys, find a girl who looks at you the way @ElonMusk looks at a spiropapa.”
Tons of fans reportedly attempted to take pictures with Musk, excited about his appearance.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. told the Brownsville Herald that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO was “surprised at the response and wanted to make sure that his son wasn’t overwhelmed,” but he thinks Musk “did enjoy it.” Even more, Treviño said “it was so neat to see the reaction and faces, especially of the kids who were recognizing who he was and saying or asking, ‘Is that Elon Musk?’”
So what’s the backstory behind Musk’s appearance at the festival? For one, Musk is developing his Starship launch system in Boca Chica Village’s Starbase facility, which is around half an hour away from Brownsville.
SpaceX participated in this year’s Charro Days festival, becoming a sponsor and showing off a float at the parade on February 26. The float appeared with Starship’s Raptor engines, a video screen, and dancing.
Brownsville students visited Starbase on February 8 and made a “thank you” video in gratitude for the Musk Foundation’s donations to the school district, while also inviting Musk to the Charro Days fiesta.
Later, when asked by a reporter at a SpaceX event if he would accept the invitation, Musk replied, “I will be there!” And the rest is history.
