Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. Please use the button below to manage your account.
A Hispanic Heritage Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 25, offering members of the Hispanic/Latinx community as well as the Alamance County community as a whole the opportunity to celebrate and learn more about Hispanic and Latin cultures.
Hosted by Alamance Citizens for a Drug-Free Community and Alamance Arts, the festival will be held from noon to 8 p.m. at the Captain White House, 213 S. Main St., Graham. The celebration lines up with Hispanic Heritage Month which is celebrated Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.
Jim Albright, a representative for Alamance Citizens for a Drug-Free Community said the organization has been building up to this event for a long time. After months of work with Alamance Arts and the Hispanic/Latin community through other events, the festival’s organizers said it was time to bring a bigger celebration to life.
The Hispanic Heritage Festival will include a mechanical bull, food, entertainment, crafts and family-friendly fun.
Times-News
Alamance Arts
“I think is the right time (for) putting together the Hispanic Heritage (Festival) in commemoration of National Hispanic Heritage Month,” Alamance Arts Board Member Yholima Vargas said. “It’s a great way to say that things have changed (in Alamance County).”
“It’s just a good time to create something that brings a very refreshing idea, not only about the geographical area that we live in ... but it's also about the changes that are happening in our society,” she added.
The festival will celebrate a range of Hispanic and Latin cultures and will include food, entertainers, information booths, a bilingual story time at the library, craft and merchandise vendors and family-friendly activities. There will also be a mechanical bull that you can ride for $2. A parade will also be held on the grounds during the event.
Entertainment includes Huepa Culture, Ballet Folklorico Orgullo y Alama Latina, Zoe & Nathan and Mariachi Los Viajeros de Carolina del Norte de Hector G Varel.
While admission is free, attendees should bring money for food purchases to support local Hispanic/Latin-owned businesses.
“The idea is to have a very traditional little window (into these cultures) so everybody who comes in gets to see what is out there and just to be comfortable being in a brand new but also colorful place where everybody is welcome,” Vargas said.
City and county officials will make proclamations to be presented during the event declaring the festival an official celebration throughout the county, Albright added.
“I feel that Alamance County, (and) you know, all of its of its residents—I mean Latinos to Asians to Caucasians or Blacks or whatever color and whatever nationality—we're all ready for something like this,” organizer Lorena Meza Lara said.
Festival organizers said they plan to grow the event in the coming years.
If you’re not a subscriber, please support local journalism and consider a subscription to The Times-News.
Elizabeth Pattman is the trending topics reporter for the Times-News in Burlington, covering business, COVID-19 and all things trending. Contact Elizabeth (she/her) at epattman@gannett.com. I'm also available on social media @EPattmanTN on Twitter or @burlingtontimesnews on Instagram.
