(25 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Axtla de Terrazas, Mexico – 23 August 2025
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Various of Isela Anahí Santiago Morales, who went viral after a failed 15th birthday party, sitting on convertible vintage car
2. People taking photos
3. Isela posing for photos with locals
4. Car carrying Isela driving away
5. Isela arriving at birthday party, surrounded by reporters and crowd
6. People filming on phones
7. Isela crossing stadium field as people form a cordon around her
8. Isela walking onto stage
9. Crowd at party
10. Isela addressing crowd from stage, UPSOUND Isela Anahí Santiago Morales (Spanish): "Thanks so much for coming to my party and bringing the toys for me to give away"
11. Crowd watching as woman gives speech
12. Isela reading letter UPSOUND Isela Anahí Santiago Morales (Spanish): "Your surprise gift is a piece of land in Axtla."
13. Isela crying after finding out she was gifted a piece of land
14. Aerial shot of crowd at stadium ++ MUTE ++
15. Isela with her parents on stage; father, thanking attendees
16. Isela’s dad thanking crowd UPSOUND (Spanish): "Because of all of you, her dream was made possible."
17. Various of Isela dancing on stage
18. Man watching
19. Isela and friends dancing on stage
20. Aerial shot of crowd at stadium ++ MUTE ++
21. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Sarai Rosales, attendee visiting from Dallas: ++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
"It became national news. When we saw it on TV at home, we got excited and decided to come."
22. People dancing
23. Close of feet dancing in mud
24. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Yolanda Castro, attendee: ++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
"We only knew her from social media, but we saw what was being organized and decided to join."
25. Isela cutting birthday cake with Jerónimo Rosales, who organized the party
26. Close of cake
27. Isela sitting in armchair
28. Close of pink dress
29. Isela sitting in armchair
STORYLINE:
A girl from a family of garbage collectors in central Mexico celebrated her 15th birthday Saturday through Sunday in front of thousands of people after news of a previous party where no one showed up went viral.
Cameras flashed as 15-year-old Isela Anahí Santiago Morales stepped from a vintage car into the pouring rain to kick off the party in Axtla de Terrazas, San Luis Potosí.
The shy teenager looked both overwhelmed and exhausted.
Six weeks earlier, her quinceañera — the Latin American coming-of-age celebration marking a girl’s 15th birthday — had been a disappointment.
Her parents had stretched their savings for food and music, but only a few guests came.
Her father didn’t want the food to go to waste, so he put up a Facebook post saying there was enough left for 40 people, and that post went viral.
Isela lives with her parents and sister in a modest wooden house with a tin roof in Axtla de Terrazas, a town of about 32,000 in the central state of San Luis Potosi.
Her mother is of Nahuatl heritage and her parents earn a living collecting garbage. They had stretched their savings to host a small party on July 9.
But when the turnout was scant, the disappointment was sharp.
Quinceañeras hold deep cultural weight across Mexico and Latin America, representing a symbolic passage from childhood into womanhood. Families often save for years to host them.
The viral spark came when a local photographer offered a free shoot, followed by DJ and event organizer Jerónimo Rosales, who pledged to provide music.
The story spread, and donations started to pour in from local businesses and private citizens.
AP video shot by Martín Silva Rey
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