SALT LAKE CITY — Amid a reduction in sponsors, organizers of two annual festivals highlighting the Latino community have joined forces for a united celebration this year.
The Festival Latino de Utah and the Venezuela Festival will take place jointly on Saturday, July 12, at the Gateway near 400 West and 200 South in Salt Lake City from noon to around midnight. The event is free and open to the public.
In years past, the two events have been held separately, according to Patricia Quiñonez of Utahzolanos, a social media operation geared to Utah’s Venezuelan community and the main force behind the Venezuela Festival. She said the decision to join forces stemmed in part from a dip in sponsors for the events amid question marks about attendance as immigrants in the country, including many from Latin America, are increasingly targeted for detention and deportation by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“We thought a lot about whether we should do it or not,” Quiñonez said. This is the eighth year for the Venezuela Festival, “and we said if we don’t do it, it’s as if we’re giving up and sending a message of fear to the community, so we decided to do it.”
Organizers wonder if the Latino community will be nervous about attending a public event, Quiñonez said, but she emphasizes that it will be a family-friendly event. The main draws of the event are live music and dancing and food from Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and the rest of Latin America, but she said immigration lawyers and bank representatives, among others, will be operating informational booths at the event as well.
“There will be a lot of valuable information there,” she said.
Utah Latino Arts is the main sponsor of Festival Latino de Utah. In its social media messages, it notes the array of activities at this year’s installment.
“Enjoy Latin America nculture through art, music, dance and amazing, delicious food! This year’s festival is bigger than ever, with two stages,” the organization’s promotional material reads.
Similarly, even if there is a measure of apprehension among some in the Latino community given the intense political focus on immigrants, including Latino immigrants, Quiñonez said Saturday’s festival is meant to be an upbeat occasion.
“I think the main message we want to convey is a sense of pride about our culture. We contribute a lot to this country and I think we deserve space to celebrate our roots,” she said.
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