A makeshift dressing room in the basement of St. John’s School Friday night bustled with colorful movement.

Glitter sparkled from atop velvety sombreros worn by young boys. Tiny girls with blush-tinged cheeks and ruffly red and green skirts rushed out the door on their way to an outside stage.

“I’m so nervous,” one of the dancers said.

But nerves dissolved into smiles and tapping feet, which then gave way to a roar of applause from the more than 400 people on hand to enjoy the first night of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church’s 21st Annual Mexican Fiesta. The party continues from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. today outside the church, 1234 Ky. Admission is free.

The St. John’s Fiesta Dancers, nearly 50 boys and girls ages 3 to 18, have been rehearsing since May to perfect their skills at traditional Mexican dancing. Their performances are one of the reasons people return to the fiesta each year.

“Aren’t they beautiful,” onlooker Loretta Chavez said, gesturing toward the stage during one of the dances.

The other lure: authentic Mexican food prepared by St. John’s parishioners. Demand for the homemade tamales, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, rice and refried beans always leads to Saturday-night lines that snake down the block.

Chavez, who has been helping prepare the massive Mexican feast for 21 years, said parishioners would be in the church kitchen by 5 this morning, heating up the 2,000 tamales they prepared and froze in February. Chavez and other church members spent all week preparing everything else.

“It’s fun. I love to cook,” said Chavez, who has 10 children. “I’m used to cooking for large crowds.”

The fiesta is a fund-raiser for the church. Last year’s event raised upwards of $40,000, fiesta committee chairman Buddy Langford said. The money not only helps pay for the fiesta but also goes toward maintaining the school, creating scholarships and donating to local charities, he said.

Food will go on sale at 6 tonight, when Mariachi Habanero, a Topeka-based mariachi band, takes the stage. The band Illucion Nortena of Emporia will play from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., after the St. John’s dancers give an encore performance at 7 p.m.

Eleven-year-old Samantha Romero, one of the St. John’s dancers, said she remembered dancing at the fiesta when she was much younger and admiring the older girls wearing more ornate costumes, doing more difficult dances. Now she’s one of the older girls, helping lift the tiniest of the children onto the stage so they don’t trip on their skirts.

“It’s a lot of work,” she said of learning the dances. “But it’s really fun.”