Rohnert Park held its first Latino Festival on Saturday, September 28, 2019. The event took place at the Rohnert Park City Center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The 1st annual Latino Festival was formed by a Non- Profit organization, Latino Alliance.
Latino Alliance was founded by four Latino and Latina business owners. They created Latino Alliance for other Latino Business Owners and community members to have a place where they could come and enact positive change in their community. The co-founders of the Latino Alliance are Frankie Lemus, and Shelly Gomez, both graduates from Rancho Cotate High School. They work with their other co-founders, Darlene Sandoval and Maria Sandoval. Frankie Lemus owns one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in Rohnert Park, Sol Azteca. The business was started by his parents 28 years ago. Darlene Sandoval handles legal issues and works as a bookkeeper. Maria Sandoval works as an insurance agent.
According to the Community Voice, the Latino Alliance has a mission and goals to help their community. Their mission statement “is to empower the Latino business owners and community members to use our voices to enact positive change in our community.” The Latino Alliance adopted Alicia Park to set a focus for the Latino Alliance. Working with the city parks manager, they will help to paint and landscape the area. The Latino Alliance will be working with the community to maintain and beautify the park. Contributing to helping keep it beautiful and safe.
Frankie Lemus expressed his personal goals and what he would like to see for the community based on his life and experiences growing up in Rohnert Park. He mentioned to The Community Voice, “We have put in the years; for us to be leaders says a lot, we’ve been here. We want to create a community that is really equitable. Now is the time to empower our members. We want to be involved in downtown development. We want to be role models for our children, and we want to honor the hard work of our parents.”
The Latino Festival was created to bring community members from different cultures together to give recognition to the growing Latino community in Rohnert Park. The celebration offered live music and entertainment, and a car show. The event also included food, beer, wine and other merchandise that was available for purchase. The event was free to the community.
The Festival was kicked off by Danza Azteca Dancers opening ceremony. The festival continued with entertainment from Ballet Folklorico dancers to Cuban music from, Carlitos Medrano y Sabor de Mi Cuba. The event brought old and young people of the community all mesmerized by the music, entertainment and culture the event has brought to the community. The Mayor, Gina Beforte, of Rohnert Park made a statement during the opening Ceremony mentioned how the city is working with Latino Community leaders to meet the needs of the growing Latino Community.
The Latino Alliance aimed to bring the community together to celebrate their diverse cultures and traditions. The variety of vendors and informational booths, jumpy houses and fun family-friendly activities made this event successful. Food vendors sold traditional Mexican Food Favorites, such as Tortas, enchiladas, tacos, and empanadas. There was also a variety of Peruvian favorites such as Arroz Chaufa.
A member of the Latino Alliance, Sylvia Lemus, told The Community Voice how she felt about the event stating, “I thought this event was really important for the community to see the diversity of the Latino Culture.” She went on to talk about how the festival included other cultures such as Peruvians, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorians, and many others. Lemus also mentioned how it is “important to celebrate the diversity in the Latino Culture.”
