Cheech Marin celebrated his 80th birthday with a little help from his friends in Riverside.
A fiesta in front of the downtown Chicano art museum that bears his name marked the occasion.
Cheech Marin celebrates his 80th birthday Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Cheech Marin celebrates his 80th birthday Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Cheech Marin’s statue is decorated Sunday, July 12, 2026, for his 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Xiuh Arte Azteca Chichimeca perform Sunday, July 12, 2026, during Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Emily Bardsley signs an oversized birthday card Sunday, July 12, 2026, for Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday during acelebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Rancho Verde High School’s Amor de Folklore performs Sunday, July 12, 2026, during Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Leyda Guevara, a member of the Xiuh Arte Azteca Chichimeca, is seen Sunday, July 12, 2026, after a performance at Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Visitors view the artwork Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Carolina Arguello makes a basket Sunday, July 12, 2026, during a workshop by Lana Licata Manzo at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Laura Gordillo, left, and daughter Lila Nuñez learn how to make baskets during a Sunday, July 12, 2026, workshop by Lana Licata Manzo at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Lana Licata Manzo teaches a basket-making workshop Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Oscar Lima and Genesis Mejia, members of Rancho Verde High School’s Amor de Folklore, perform Sunday, July 12, 2026, during Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Guillermina Nuñez and Xochitl Chavez dance Sunday, July 12, 2026, during Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
A member of the Xiuh Arte Azteca Chichimeca, Luz Ochoa, performs Sunday, July 12, 2026, during Cheech Marin’s 80th birthday celebration at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Cheech Marin celebrates his 80th birthday Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside on Sunday. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Cheech Marin celebrates his 80th birthday Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
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Cheech Marin celebrates his 80th birthday Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
The hours-long, free celebration Sunday, July 12, boasted a fandango, live music and entertainment, activities, food trucks, vendors and a performance by Cherry Bomb Revival.
Marin, a Southern California-based actor and comedian who founded the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, even cut slices of a birthday cake.
The Cheech museum opened in 2022 as a collaboration with the Riverside Art Museum that displayed part of Marin’s personal art collection. It has since evolved into an extensive collection of Chicano art, including paintings, sculptures, photography and video art.
Most recently, the museum housed in the city’s former main library welcomed a new exhibit “We the People: Chicano Art in the USA” that opened in June.