A delegation from Guanajuato, Mexico, began arriving in Pasadena on Friday with the rest set to join them today, as part of a historic visit to witness the Rose Parade and explore the possibility of establishing Pasadena’s first sister city relationship with a Mexican city.

The delegation’s stay, which runs through Jan. 8, features a packed itinerary of cultural presentation, meet-and-greets, sightseeing.

Initially, that itinerary included a planned meeting between the Rose queen and the Guanajuato queen, a student from University of Guanajuato who is serving as a cultural ambassador for the city. But due to personal reasons, the queen won’t join the delegation on this trip, officials announced late Friday.

Ed Morales, president of the 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses and a proud descendant of Guanajuato, said Friday that he is enthusiastic about the initiative.

“Pasadena has had lots of sister cities, but we don’t have a sister city from Mexico,” he said. “My grandmother was originally from Guanajuato … so it just turned out that the sister city organization here in town was working on a sister-city relationship with Guanajuato.”

Morales said that the sister city relationship began taking shape after a Pasadena delegation visited Guanajuato in October.

“They treated them so well,” he said. “They (Pasadena) reciprocated by inviting a significant number of people here to Pasadena for our big celebration on New Year’s Day. We’re very excited to have them.”

Rene Gonzalez, chair of Guanajuato Proposed Affiliation Group, which is spearheading the efforts to establish the sister city relationship, said a partnership between Pasadena and a city in Mexico is long overdue.

Pasadena has deep ties to Mexico, a high percentage (more than 35%) of the city’s population is Hispanic or Latino,

“We are working to bring a highly needed Mexican sister city affiliation to Pasadena,” Gonzalez said. “Our group researched many cities across Mexico, and after an extensive and thoughtful process, we selected Guanajuato as the ideal candidate. The choice was based on its rich historical and cultural value.”

Gonzalez added that the Guanajuato delegation is made up of municipal officials, including Mayor Samantha Smith, university professors, as well as professional ballet folklórico students from the University of Guanajuato.

In addition, the Guanajuato delegation’s visit will include a cultural exchange featuring presentations on the region’s unique traditions in arts, music, and dance.

The cultural presentations “will give the citizens of Pasadena an opportunity to learn more about Guanajuato’s unique culture” he said.

“To me, it’s an honor that they accepted my personal invitation to visit Pasadena on a cultural exchange visit,” Gonzalez added. “The fact that they have accepted my invitation shows strong interest on their behalf to establish strong relations with our community.”

The groundwork for this potential sister city relationship began during an exploratory visit to the Guanajuato from Oct. 7 to Oct. 13 on behalf of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee and Councilmember (then Vice Mayor) Steve Madison.

“I have advocated for years that we add a city in Mexico to our cadre of Sister Cities,” Madison wrote in a letter to Smith, mayor of Guanajuato, in an Oct. 9 letter. “I am very pleased that following a recent change in leadership, the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee is finally pursuing this goal by visiting Guanajuato. My excitement and enthusiasm about the possibility of forming a Sister Cities relationship with Guanajuato is undiminished.”

The Pasadena delegation included the Sister Cities Committee vice president, new affiliation co-chairs, and members of the Sister Cities Committee Guanajuato-Mexico Proposed Affiliation Committee.

Guanajuato, located in central Mexico, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in 1559 that shares many similarities with Pasadena.

Both cities are similar in population — Pasadena has 140,000 residents, while Guanajuato has 194,000 — and are renowned for their cultural and historical significance.

Like Pasadena, Guanajuato is a vibrant hub of arts, music, education, and science.

Metro Editor Ryan Carter contributed to this report.