GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Dozens of vendors created a colorful and vibrant celebration of Latin American culture in Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids on a sunny Saturday, Aug. 2 to celebrate the 47th annual Hispanic Festival.
The free three-day event, from Friday, Aug. 1 to Sunday, Aug. 3, sports more than a dozen food vendors, a market selling Hispanic arts and crafts, and community vendors.
“It’s the largest Hispanic festival in Michigan and we usually get about 50,000 people attending it over the weekend,” said Gabriela Cordova, director of engagement with the Hispanic Center of West Michigan.
“We have people from all over Michigan as well as the surrounding states,” she said. “It’s just a celebration of the Hispanic culture. We have food vendors from different parts of Latin America, we have mercado vendors.”
Among those attending the festival were Roxana Cortes, 63, and her husband Enrique Trinidad, 59, with their dog Luky.
Cortes said she has been coming to the festival since she was a girl.
Her parents were very involved with the festival from the beginning, Cortes said, performing the tango, a dance from Argentina, and the cueca, a traditional dance from Chile.
Cortes is originally from Chile and Trinidad from the Dominican Republic.
The couple now live in Grand Rapids.
Cortes and Trinidad said they like that the festival brings the community together.
“And the music, we love the music and the dancing,” Trinidad said.
They continued the tradition, bringing their kids.
“It was a big family gathering. We would all dance, introduce the culture to the new generation here,” Cortes said.
“We’re happy that it continues to be like that,” she said of bringing the community together.
The event features many familiar community favorites, including live music and dancing.
“This year we actually also have a kids’ zone,” Cordova said, with Kent District Library providing literary activities for children and other vendors, including Safe Haven and Christian schools, with additional family-oriented activities.
The Kent District Library will be there on Saturday only, from noon to 6 or 7 p.m., Cordova said.
The festival is the Hispanic Center of West Michigan’s largest fundraiser, she said.
“All the money that is earned through the festival gets reinvested back into the community,” Cordova said.
Also attending were Amanda Sweeney, 24, of Grand Rapids, and Adriana Merio, 24, of Walker.
Sweeney said it’s her second time attending the festival.
“I love when cities incorporate culture, I think it’s really important to help people understand different cultures,” she said. “So I go to all these kinds of things that Calder (Plaza) hosts, like the Asia Pacific one I went to. The Polish one.”
Merio said she’s been to the Hispanic festival a few times.
“I love coming here just because it’s a piece of home,” she said.
While Merio grew up in southwest Michigan, she said her grandparents immigrated from Mexico.
Merio said she hoped to persuade her parents to come out to the festival Satruday evening to visit and listen to the music.
She said she likes that Grand Rapids celebrates different cultures.
“It gives opportunities to people who aren’t necessarily part of the community,” Merio said. “All these cultures are really beautiful to share, the food, the music, the dancing, the community. I really enjoy coming to the festival.”
The event runs from noon to midnight on Saturday and 1 p.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday.
Organizers ask that parents with children 10 and under visit before 9 p.m. on Saturday because of the crowds and music volume.
For more information and a schedule of events, visit the Hispanic Festival website.
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