A Latino festival of entertainment, food and culture will cha-cha its way on a downtown street for the second year in a row.
The second annual Fiestaval Latin Festival will liven the block along Ross Street between 48th Avenue and 49th Avenue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Christian Greiffenstein, one of the organizers, said the free family-friendly festival is packing more entertainment and activities to wow visitors. On Friday, a four-piece band played at Veterans’ Park while taco chips and dip were served to passersby as a way to increase attention.
Four large Latino bands, as well as dancers, will get hips shaking on the streets at Fiestaval.
“There’s a big Latin culture here — and at last year’s event, I also saw a lot of people from Africa, Greece, Italy,” said Greiffenstein, a native Colombian. “Hopefully the weather is good to us.”
Many members of the local Latino community get involved in Fiestaval by volunteering, running food booths and contributing handicrafts for the sales booths.
Organizers hope to double last year’s attendance of several thousand people. Greiffenstein said the festival is bigger with 10 food vendors from all over Alberta. Last year, there were seven. Traditional Colombian, Mexican and Salvadoran dishes will be among those served.
The festival will be moved one block to the east because of improvements being done to Little Gaetz Avenue. The event will now be found across from City Hall.
“It’s a much bigger block so we’re going to have more space,” said Greiffenstein. “We’ll have a bigger stage, better sound, more programming.”
The day’ss events have been extended by one hour to 7 p.m. There is no fee for the daytime events downtown.
There’s also a night party at Festival Hall for the first time. It features Calgarian 10-piece band Latin Combo. Organizers say they’ve also acquired the best Latin deejay, DJ Branmar, in Western Canada. Festival Hall is located at 4214 58th St. Tickets cost $20 in advance and at the door for the evening show. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. followed by the show at 9 p.m. Tickets can be bought at Downtown Red Deer Business Association (111A, 4818 50th Ave.), Unimarket (5317 50th Ave.) The Wright Upholstery (5826 51 Ave.) and Latin Power Productions (403-877-4835).
For more information, go online at www.fiestaval.ca.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com