Hundreds of Red Deerians enjoyed food, dancing and music at the city's first-ever Latin Festival.
The Central Alberta Inclusive Latin Association hosted its inaugural Latin Festival at Canada 150 Square in Red Deer's Capstone neighbourhood from 1-9 p.m. on Saturday, June 14.
"As part of our association's mission, we're aiming to gather the community and immerse them in the Latin culture and heritage," said William Siliezar, CAILA president.
"With the help of a Capstone grant, we're able to host our Latin festival — it's the first festival of the season here at Capstone. Hopefully, we can bring this back every year from now on."
The event featured live Latin music from local performers and DJs, interactive dance classes, a beer garden, food trucks, a market with Latin vendors and artisans, and Latin American-themed decorations.
"We are showcasing mostly local performers, but we also reached out to some vendors from Calgary and Rimbey," said Siliezar.
"We're trying to create a bit of a safe space for the Latin community, and other communities as well, so they can come and be part of this while enjoying themselves by being immersed in the culture."
CAILA is comprised of people from various Latin-American countries. Siliezar is originally from El Salvador, while other association members are from Honduras, Peru and Mexico.
"We have a little bit of everyone around us, so we're trying to bring a little bit of each country into the community," said Siliezar.
"For me, as someone who is very involved in community, it was hard to not have a space where we can showcase our culture. We've been here in Central Alberta for years and we've been creating an impact in the community. With events like this, we can help people feel welcome and included, so we can trade culture with each other."
CAILA will begin offering free monthly cooking classes at the Red Deer YMC. The association is currently planning a Hispanic Heritage Month, which will likely be held in September. Additionally, the association will also host a Dios De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration later in the year as well.
"We're doing Dios De Los Muertos a little bit differently this year," Siliezar said.
"Now that we know that there are plenty of vendors and business owners who are Latinos, we want to showcase them and let people know where they are. So we're going to provide a passport to people and they can go around to all the different businesses, and there will be an altar at each of the locations."
For more information on CAILA and upcoming events, visit www.cailayqf.ca.
