Behind the scenes of the 30th annual Mariachi USA

If you love mariachi music, this is a festival you don't want to miss.

Every year, the world's greatest musicians perform at the Iconic Hollywood Bowl in front of some 17,000 music lovers. People sing along to their favorite songs and often get up and dance.

It's a festive and fun environment for people of all ages.

I remember taking my parents to this event 20 years ago and I'm thrilled to see it's still going strong.

This year, I asked permission to go behind the scenes to shoot photos of the musicians and dancers getting ready to perform. I met mariachis from Los Angeles, Bakersfield and Guadalajara Mexico. Some confessed they were super nervous before hitting the stage.

One musician, put a cheat sheet on the back of her violin, so she wouldn't forget the order of songs they planned to perform.

Others were as cool as a cucumber. All were in great spirit, thrilled and grateful to be performing at such and awesome venue.

I was also grateful to be among such talented people. These are some of the behind the scenes photos from the 30th Annual Mariachi USA.