Iowa's Latino Heritage Festival celebrates culture virtually

From mid September to mid October is Hispanic Heritage Month. With the ongoing pandemic, celebrations are looking a bit different this year.

Iowa's Latino Heritage Festival is a state wide event that celebrates the month and dates back to 2002. Organizers say it's a great way to celebrate the rich traditions and culture.

However, they thought it was going to be virtually impossible to have the festival during the pandemic. But once they saw other celebrations moving online, they figured they could do the same.

"So we decided to hold a virtual event and put together some of the components that are most popular for the audience, especially the Latino audience. And that's what we developed. We put together some segments that are very appealing, they really draw a lot of attention," said Hispanic Advertising Agent, Enrique Pena Velasco.

Members of the Latino community of Iowa were able to log onto Facebook to celebrate Sunday afternoon.

"We asked people to share the invitation, the same post with their friends so not only are there a number of responses that have expressed interest in attending will be there, but other peoples friends were able to influence and respond and participate," said Velasco.

Viewers joined live cooking demonstrations and dance lessons.

"Coming together through arts, culture, entertainment, dance is fantastic. This is kind of the second best way to kind of do something, be able to participate and still enjoy," said Executive Director of Latino Resources Incorporated, Joe Gonzalez.

Board members are thrilled to see their community celebrate our Hispanic community despite 2020's challenges.

"They're still coming together to celebrate their culture. They're doing it with family, they're doing it in small groups. I've seen posts on social media of people getting together and celebrating what they can safely. And so its kind pf important to celebrat your culture and your heritage because once you stop, you kind of lose your own history," said Gonzalez.

Members of board say they loved witnessing how the event exists online. They still hope we can all celebrate in person in 2021.