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Latino Heritage Month comes to an end with Festival
Jenal Mariana, of the dancing group Fantasia Juvenil from Chicago, performs at the Festival Latino Thursday afternoon. Festival Latino closed Latino Heritage Month. The event also featured the Ballet Folklorico Mexicano dancing group along with a lecture by William Guillermo Luna, who is the President and Curator of the Museum of Mexican Culture and History, which is located in Chicago.
Students passed by the Free Forum Area to see dancers in brightly colored dresses performing authentic Mexican dances as Latino music blared in the background.
After Latino Independence Day celebrations, Salsa nights and informative events, Latino Heritage Month came to a close with one last day of cultural music, dancing and food.
The 10th annual Festival Latino and closing ceremony took place Thursday from noon to 4p.m. The celebration featured Mexican dance group Mexican Folklorico and guest speaker William Guillermo Luna. Lunch and refreshments were served, and cultural information was set up in Ballroom D of the Student Center. The Hispanic Student Council and Multicultural Programs and Services sponsored the festival, which took place in Ballroom D and provided students with both refreshments and culture throughout the day.
" We have had a good turn out so far. We have had about 80 people in and out," said Delia Suarez a senior in English pre-professional from Chicago. " I would like to thank the community and SIUC students for all of the support throughout the month."
A Mexican dance group, Fantasia Juvenil, with students between the ages of 10 and 17 was the first performance of the day. The dancers arrived from Chicago to perform on campus, which marked their 50th performance.
After the performance, the ceremony moved indoors to Ballroom D in the Student Center. William Guilermo Luna, who founded the Museum of Mexican Culture and History in Chicago, spoke to students about Latino culture and heritage. Aside from speaking, he set up displays that provided information on important Latinos. Luna also started the first Latino Heritage Month in Chicago. He speaks to a variety of colleges as well as on radio and television shows. Luna explained the importance of Latino culture in America.
"I was living in Mexico in Indiana; my curtains were red, white and green, and my mom made tortillas," Luna said. "I read about Mexico because going to Mexico doesn't mean you will know about the culture unless you purposely go to learn."
Annie Dentamaro~Daily Eygptian
(Left) Arcelia and Micaela Rivera, of Carbondale, dance to the beat of the music at Festival Latino while Fantasia Juvenil, a dancing group out of Chicago, performs. Festival Latino closed Latino Heritage Month and also featured free food and drinks, a performance by the local dance group, Ballet Folklorico Mexicano, and a lecture by William Guillermo Luna, the President and Curator of the Museum of Mexican Culture and History, located in Chicago.
Information about the famous Hispanic athletes, war veterans and inventors were displayed for students to look at after the lecture.
"These people are still not known," Luna said when referring to the information about famous Latino people. "We aren't news unless it's for gangs, drugs or immigration. Then we're known."
" The events today made me more aware of the culture," said Rosa Perez, a freshman in secondary education and math from Chicago. " I learned a lot of things about Hispanic culture that I never knew before."
Carl Ervin of Multicultural Services and Programs said he never knew a Mexican person invented color TV until he read the various displays.
The day ended with Mexican Folklorico dancers and a piñata contest, and certificates of recognition were handed out to those who made Hispanic Heritage Month possible.
Octavio Flores, the president of Hispanic Student Council, was in charge of much of the preparation for the event.
" I worked with the Hispanic Student Council Executive Board to get performance," said Flores, a senior in Mechanical Engineering from Chicago. "Everyone worked hard to make the event successful, and we hope it continues to get bigger and bigger over the years.
"This is the oldest Latino event on campus. It brings everyone together and draws a little attention to Latino culture."
