Latin American culture, diversity celebrated at Hispanic Heritage Festival

Oct. 2—As performers danced to and played music from numerous Latin American cultures during a Hispanic Heritage Festival on Saturday, many people were drawn to the tables under a large tent. There, as they escaped the rain, they found Damaris Ponciano-Jackson and her students helping people craft piñatas, pinwheels and flashlights.

Ponciano-Jackson is the director of the Éxito STEAM Summer Program at Centro Hispano de Frederick, which hosted Saturday's festival. The Éxito program includes lessons in STEM, arts, English and Spanish language, and general life skills.

As visitors to her tent finished their crafts, Ponciano-Jackson encouraged them to decorate their creations with Hispanic patterns and colors. She said including Hispanic designs was not only important for the festival, but also exemplified a central theme of the Éxito program: pride in Hispanic cultures.

"It shows our children that being a Hispanic is powerful," Ponciano-Jackson said in an interview with the News-Post.

Centro Hispano de Frederick held its second annual Hispanic Heritage Festival at the Carroll Creek Amphitheater and along the creek's linear park Saturday.

The festival occurred during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

The festival included the children's tent, local food trucks, and performances from dancers and singers showcasing Bolivian, Mexican, Honduran, Colombian, Peruvian, Venezuelan and Spanish cultures.

Maria-Teresa Shuck, the director of Centro Hispano de Frederick, said the festival was not only a chance for people to celebrate their Hispanic heritage, but also for communities to share the diversity of Latin America's distinct cultures.

"We wanted to share that with the community at large," Shuck said.

Centro Hispano de Frederick, on Willowdale Drive, off U.S. 40, in Frederick, formed 16 years ago to give immigrants resources to help them participate fully in the Frederick community.

For the first time, Centro Hispano de Frederick had local sponsors for the festival. Shuck said the first Hispanic Heritage Festival was such a success that she decided this year to involve other community organizations.

"We were very, very surprised to see how accepting people were to the idea," she said.

Shuck said the political climate the last few years and the way some politicians in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere have spoken about immigrant communities made it "kind of scary to stick our necks out" and involve various community groups in the festival. But, Shuck said, the responses she received were overwhelmingly positive.

"Frederick is totally ready to accept diversity and enjoy it," she said.

Aleena Hassen, 17, and Caroline Gregory, 16, are Frederick High School students and members of the Spanish Honor Society. The pair went to the festival to join Ponciano-Jackson's Éxito students as they helped children create crafts.

They made sure to take in the festival's performances and take advantage of the array of eateries.

"I've eaten from every single one of the food trucks," Hassen said.

Sandra Molina, 35, attended the festival with her 4-month-old child and other members of her family.

Molina, whose mom is from Peru and dad hails from El Salvador, said it's important for people to have opportunities to "show off their culture, in a sense."

"It's really nice to see it in my community, even if it's once a year," Molina said.

Molina and her family used to travel to D.C. and other places outside Frederick County to attend Hispanic festivals. She's now attended both Hispanic Heritage Festivals and, as someone who grew up in the county, said its great to see how the area has grown culturally.

More than 11% of the county's population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, and 11% are foreign born, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

Frederick County's Hispanic and Latino population has increased nearly sixfold since the turn of the century, according to USA Facts, citing the U.S. Census Bureau.

Molina said another reason she attended Saturday's festival was to support her mother's friend, who performed La Marinera, a Peruvian regional dance.

Molina's mother met her friend through the Entre Mujeres (Between Women) program at Centro Hispano de Frederick. Her friend, it turns out, is the mother of a Peruvian national champion La Marinera dancer.

No matter the rain, Molina, her family and their friends were stoked to celebrate and share their cultures at the festival.

"Hopefully, this was the second of many, many more," Molina said.

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan