Iowa’s Latino Festival to celebrate “Sabores de Iowa”

DES MOINES, IA – Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival will celebrate the varied flavors of the Latino community through music, food, dance, art, culture and much more.

“Sabores de Iowa” is the theme for this year’s event and celebrates the Latino community’s varied history and culture with Latinos coming to Iowa from more than 20 countries across the globe.

“We want festival-goers to taste, see and experience all of the flavors our community has to offer,” said Joe Gonzalez, the festival director and executive director of Latino Resources Inc., the umbrella organization that oversees the festival. “This is a chance for them to really dive into Latin culture.”

The festival is from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sept. 22 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 23 at Western Gateway Park in downtown Des Moines. About 10,000 to 12,000 people attend the two-day event. It features folkloric dancers, martial arts performers, a children’s area, booths about the countries represented at the festival and more.

The design for this year’s festival poster will feature the work of Elisabeth Arant, an art/graphic design major at Northwestern College in Orange City. She was the winner of this year’s poster contest. Festival organizers awarded her with a $1,000 scholarship to continue her education. Other scholarships will be announced at the festival.

Cost to attend is $5 for adults and $1 for children 12 and younger.

For more information, visit www.latinoheritagefestival.org, or contact Melissa Walker at 515-681-7731 or mwmediaconsultants@yahoo.com. Visit Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival on Facebook and @latinofestia on Instagram.