The fourth annual Festival de los Teatros Chicanos was held in San Jose, California, on June 15-24, 1973. It was a gathering of teatros from the many different regions in the United States where Chicanos—persons of Mexican-American descent—have settled. There also were several theatre groups from Mexico itself.

Chicano theatre has roots in the ancient culture of the Mayans, but its contemporary awakening dates from 1965, when Luis Valdez first organized El Teatro Campesino, a theatre based in San Juan Bautista, that played in the fields for the huelgistas (strikers) of the United Farm Workers in support of the strikes and boycotts against table grapes and, more recently, iceberg lettuce.