Festival Latino brings food, music and dance
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Loading... - Nicole Gabe
- 14 Jul 2022
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Now in its 11th year, Festival Latino is an annual celebration of the rich cultural heritage of Latin America. That heritage is shared by a growing number of N’West Iowa residents with ties to places like Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Music with a Latin beat boomed from the speakers, and people were spread across the grass in lawn chairs and on blankets.
One side of the park was bordered by food trucks, with vendors dishing up quesabirria, street tacos and burritos. Near the shelter house, children lined up eagerly at the face-painting stand, waiting to be transformed into tigers and purple cats.
“We have the Tulip Festival in May, and we want to continue to encourage and support that,” Martha Draayer said. “But it’s been great to see a celebration of Dutch heritage in May, then in June, we celebrate Latino heritage, and the two coexisting.”
“We’ve really tried to focus on uplifting and raising leaders in our communities here in northwest Iowa,” Draayer said, emphasizing that the festival draws visitors from far and wide.
Draayer said she also hopes to include opportunities for cultural education at future festivals. She hopes to emphasize the diversity contained in the word “Latino,” which encompasses a wide variety of cultures, cuisines, musical styles and languages, including Indigenous ones. Read More...
