The 13th annual Waila Festival featuring waila, the social dance music of the Tohono O'odham of the Sonoran Desert, brings the community together for a lively evening of music and dance performed in the waila tradition. The O'odham have developed a smooth and graceful walking polka style for the waila that contrasts with the fast-hopping European polka style. The cumbia is danced freestyle. Regarless of the beat, all waila dances are performed rotating around the dance floor in a counter-clockwise direction. Tohono O'odham waila bands include musicians playing button accordion, alto saxaphone, electric six-string and bass guitars, as well as a drum kit.
Most waila musicians learn to play by ear rather than from musical scores.
Often bands are made up of members of the same family or village. In recent years, waila music has spread far beyond the reservation and has become familiar to many radio audiences. Waila bands have been invited to perform in numerous locations outside of Arizona, such as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York City. The festival will feature the Pablo Band, the Gomez Band, the Desert Spirit Band and the San Xavier Fiddle Band. Waila tradition includes the enjoyment of contemporary O'odham feast food.