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FALL FESTIVALS

Festival Hispano celebrates culture, diversity

Annual event offers music, arts and crafts, cuisine
September 12, 2019

Celebrate diversity and Hispanic heritage and culture at the 23rd Festival Hispano from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15, in downtown Georgetown. The festival will feature music from popular international Latino artists, dancing, traditional arts and crafts, and classic Hispanic cuisine.

Festival Hispano was founded in 1996 in Georgetown but later moved to Millsboro. In 2015, Festival Hispano returned to its roots in Georgetown to celebrate Hispanic heritage each year.

Event organizer and Voice Radio Network President and CEO Kevin Andrade says Festival Hispano was established to celebrate Hispanic culture with the community and visitors from all over.

“It’s a beautiful day to see lots of diversity,” he said, “We intend to do this event to celebrate Hispanic culture and share with American culture what the beauty of our community is, our food, the traditions, the colors and the language.”

In 2018, more than 20,000 visitors enjoyed Festival Hispano’s music and festivities despite the threat of a hurricane.

“People are welcome from everywhere. Last year we had visitors from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington – you name it,” said Andrade.

More than 100 vendors will be featured. For art lovers, arts and crafts will be on display by traditional artists from the local area as well as from Mexico and South America.

“People can come and buy stuff from their home countries, or if someone is interested in buying art, we will have arts and crafts from many other cultures and many other countries,” said Andrade.

Indigenous clothing from varied cultures will brighten the day, and visitors are invited to embrace color and show off their own styles.

Attendees can ignite their taste buds and sample traditional dishes from all over the world. “This is going to be a very big food festival as well,” he said. “We’re one of the biggest taco festivals, with over 12 professional taco vendors from Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland.”

Some 20 food vendors will offer mouthwatering dishes from Colombia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Peru, Andrade said.

Closely rivaling food offerings as the festival’s most popular feature, Andrade said, the music lineup will feature RKM and Ken-Y, Banda Blanca, Oro Solido, Optimo and other bands so everyone can dance the day away.

The 100-plus vendors will have activities for the entire family such as carnival games, face painting, giveaways and contests. The Department of Health will provide free flu vaccines, and Beebe Healthcare and Nanticoke Memorial Hospital will offer free services as well.

“Every single participant is going to bring something good for the community,” Andrade said.

The festival revolves around the theme of family. “The family is the most important part of the festival. You’ll find that every single vendor will have something for you. For me, the most important part of this event is seeing people dancing and eating, seeing the kids smiling, and enjoying the entertainment we have,” said Andrade.

After covering festival expenses, proceeds will go toward the nonprofit La Esperanza Community Center in Georgetown. Last year’s Festival Hispano raised more than $23,000 for the center.

“La Esperanza Community Center helps a lot of victims of crimes and domestic abuse. That’s one of the many wonderful things about this event,” Andrade said. “We truly care about the community and the families.”

Andrade said Festival Hispano represents the growth in the Hispanic community here in Sussex County.

“I think the Hispanic community is growing, and we are part of this beautiful area in Sussex County, Delaware,” he said. “We’re growing, and as a result, we’re seeing more diversity, and more Americans are engaging with the Latino community as well as Latinos getting more engaged in relationships with other cultures, such as American, African-American and with people from many other countries.”

Andrade invites anyone who is ready to immerse themselves in Hispanic culture to celebrate for a day. “This is the country of diversity, the land of immigrants, so we represent very well what this country means. Hopefully people will come out and let us show you who we truly are. We are a community of good, hard-working, family-oriented people with many traditions and flavors.”

Admission is $5 for adults; children age 12 and under are admitted free. For more information go to www.festivalhispano.org.

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