The group ALASI is heading towards their 4th year of presenting Dubois County with the Latino Festival at Huntingburg’s park coming up this Friday starting at 4pm with its Opening Ceremony at 6pm and activities also start at 10am on Saturday.
There are around 10 sponsors for this event where there will also be music, booths, and diverse food to choose from. The ALASI group stands for the Latin-American Association of Southern Indiana.
Latino Festivals are celebrated all through out Indiana and nation wide as the National Hispanic Heritage Month is spearheading from Sept 15th to Oct. 15th.
Dubois County will be celebrating this coming weekend as many who partake in the festival have already been preparing for this event especially those who have been practicing traditional folk-dances.
Huntingburg-area elementary students finished their practices last Thursday at the Guerrero residence. The traditional dance they chose comes for the country of El Salvador and even though the students come from various Spanish-speaking backgrounds and countries it creates a sense of coming together as a community to demonstrate traditions.
One of the traditional dance teachers, Irma Guerrero, stated that having young children be part of the festival is important so that they can become proud of their parents culture just like Dubois County embraces their German culture.
The organizer of the Latino Collaborative Table, Marina Guerrero, also added that the positive reception they’ve had in the past allows the community to feel included in Dubois County and gives credit to Mayor Denny Spinner for initiating groups such as ALASI that present such events like the Latino Festival, bringing many from around the county, Ellettsville, and Indianapolis.
