Latino culture, food and community take center stage at HOY en Delaware’s 9th Hispanic Heritage Festival in Wilmington

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Bellevue State Park will come alive this weekend as hundreds of Delawareans and visitors from across the region are expected to gather for an afternoon celebrating Latino culture, community and heritage.

The ninth annual Hispanic Heritage Festival, hosted by HOY en Delaware, will feature cultural performances, folk dancing, local artists, traditional foods and community resources representing Latino communities from across the state and beyond.

But this year’s celebration carries an added significance for the Spanish news outlet. HOY en Delaware is marking its 30th anniversary. The outlet has spent three decades serving Delaware’s Latino community — a milestone that reflects the publication’s longstanding effort to connect Spanish-speaking residents with news, resources and one another.

“Desde el propio nacimiento del periódico hace 30 años, no había ningún medio impreso en español”, dijo Virginia Esteban Somalo, editora para HOY en Delaware y co-organizadora del festival. “Únicamente había un programa en una estación que era La Invasora y era un programa de una hora los domingos nada más.”

“Since the newspaper’s inception 30 years ago, there was no print media in Spanish,” said Virginia Esteban Somalo, editor for HOY en Delaware and co-organizer of the festival. “There was only one program on a station called La Invasora, and it was just a one-hour program on Sundays.”

Esteban Somalo said her husband, who founded HOY en Delaware, had recognized a need for more information and stronger connections among Delaware’s growing Hispanic communities when he arrived in the United States and settled in the state.

“Él se dio cuenta de la gran necesidad que había, que tenía la gente hispana que llegaba nueva a Delaware y que los del norte [de Delaware] no sabían qué hacían los del sur [de Delaware]”, ella añadió. “Casi no había conexión entre unos y otros.”

“He realized the great need that existed among Hispanic people who were new to Delaware, and that those in northern Delaware didn’t know what those in southern Delaware were doing,” she added. “There was almost no connection between them.”

That desire to connect communities has remained central to HOY en Delaware’s work — and the Hispanic Heritage Festival is one way the newspaper brings that mission to life.

The festival will bring together cultural organizations, businesses, artists and community service providers, allowing attendees to celebrate their heritage, while also connecting with resources.

The Delaware Art Museum will be among the organizations represented, alongside local Latino artists and vendors. Attendees can also find information on services ranging from health screenings and tax assistance to financial guidance, including resources for purchasing a car.

“A nivel de vendedores va a haber artesanía de desde artesanía azteca, mexicana, artesanía de países centroamericanos … también van a tener recursos comunitarios. Allí vas y puedes tener información y salir hasta con cita, pues para qué te voy a decir. Hacer tus impuestos atrasados de forma gratuita”, ella dijo. “Van a estar artistas, pintores latinos, como es el caso de Mónica López o es el caso de Gilberto Rodríguez, ambos han participado en murales, tanto en la ciudad de Wilmington, como en la ciudad de Seaford, de Milford.”

“For vendors, there will be crafts ranging from Aztec, Mexican to Central American crafts … they’ll also have community resources,” she said. “You can go there and get information and even make an appointment. You can even pay your back taxes for free.” 

“There will be artists, Latino painters, like Mónica López and Gilberto Rodríguez, both of whom have participated in murals in Wilmington, Seaford and Milford,” she added.

The celebration will also showcase traditions from across Latin America through folkloric performances representing communities including Mexico, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

Food will be another central part of the afternoon, with vendors serving dishes and drinks tied to different Latin American cultures, including empanadas, pupusas, tostadas and coffee featuring beans and flavors from different countries.

For Esteban Somalo, the festival is ultimately an opportunity for people to learn more about the Latino community and the contributions Hispanics have made to Delaware and the United States at-large.

“Me gustaría que aprendiesen un poquito más de lo que son los hispanos. Eh en que el festival sirviese como un puente de conocimiento, como un puente cultural y que se den cuenta que los hispanos hemos venido y venimos a este país a aportar, no a llevarnos,” ella dijo. “Al final todos somos personas, seres humanos con las mismas inquietudes, las mismas alegrías, las mismas tristezas, queremos lo mismo,” dijo.

“I would like [attendees] to learn a little more about who Hispanics are,” she said. “I want the festival to serve as a bridge of knowledge, a cultural bridge, and for them to realize that we Hispanics have come and continue to come to this country to contribute, not to take away.” 

“At the end [of the day], we are all people, human beings with the same concerns, the same joys, the same sorrows, we want the same things,” she said.

The Sept. 20 festival is free to attend, though visitors will be required to pay the standard entrance fee to Bellevue State Park.

Editor’s note: WHYY has partnered with “HOY en Delaware” to produce stories in English and Spanish, with a focus on Delaware’s Latino population.