Latino Culture Fest: Having fun, meeting needs
If you are making Friday evening dinner plans, you may want to consider heading to Huntingburg’s Market Street Park for some great food at the Latino Culture Fest.
The fest opens at 4 p.m. on Friday and continues through Saturday with food booths representing the many Latino cultures found in Dubois County filling the park near Fourth Street. Tacos, papusas, panes con pollo, Cubanos, tortas, tamales, flautas, crazy corn and so much more will be available for eats.
Along with the fantastic food, there will be live music, dancing, contests and kids’ activities.
At 6:15 p.m. on Friday, the resource officers from the four school corporations will compete in an eating contest. And the evening fun will continue with live music from Grupo Folclorico Macehuani, La Imparable Banda 465, and Jariel Y Richy.
Saturday morning, there will be a soccer tournament at 8 a.m. and then from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. salsa dancing lessons are open for everyone — no partner necessary. A taco eating contest will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday and there will be henna and face painting on both nights. Food booths are open until 11 p.m. both nights as well.
Saturday’s entertainment will feature Los Guanacos, a local group performing Latino music, Los Caraveles, a local children’s group of performers, Baile Tradicional Mexicano, a local group dancing traditional Mexican dances, Baile Traditional Salvadoreño, a local group dancing traditional Salvadoran dances and closing out the evening is La Chanchone de Tito Mira, a Cumbia music group from El Salvador.
Along with all the fun and entertainment, Association of Latin Americans in Southern Indiana (ALASI) has partnered with the I-HOPE initiative through Indiana University Center for Rural Engagment and the Indiana State Department of Health to create a Hispanic Health Fair.
“We’ve been working on this health fair for over a year, and to see it finally come together at the Latino Culture Fest will be a significant accomplishment for all of us,” said event partner Eber Menjivar. “To my knowledge, this is the first time we bring something this big to the Latino community in our area. We’re inviting over 20 health institutions to come and provide the resources they have and engage with the community. Everyone is welcome.”
The health fair will be held during Saturday’s festival events from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. in front of on Geiger Street in front of Old Town Hall.
According to Eber, Hispanics are generally underserved in this area for several reasons, including language barriers as well as the costs associated with getting medical care.
“Sometimes the fear of not knowing enough English to schedule a doctor’s appointment is enough to cause a barrier,” Eber said. “Through this event, we want to bring them healthcare providers in our area that have documents in Spanish, translators on site, have payment plans for low-income families and accept customers with or without insurance.”
Along with connecting to local medical care and resources, there will be a raffle for a $50 gift card for IGA every 20 minutes.
Here is a schedule of events for the Latino Culture Fest.
