Q&A: LatinxFest co-founder shares the origins of the annual Athens cultural celebration

Set to take place on July 29, the annual LatinxFest is a day of celebration that spotlights the Athens area immigrant community's contributions to the city's culture. The event is free and open to the public, and its combination of traditional dance, food, music and activism make it a unique festival experience that draws more than 2,000 attendees per year.

In this interview, LatinxFest co-founder Beto Mendoza spoke to Banner-Herald arts and culture reporter Andrew Shearer about the agricultural origins of the festival, the various organizations involved in putting on the event, and the reason it will not be held during Hispanic Heritage Month this year.

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Andrew Shearer: 2023 marks the 13th anniversary of LatinxFest. What details can you share about how the festival got started?

Beto Mendoza: Our first LatinxFest was in 2010, and it began in a small community in Athens called Pinewood Estates North, which is an historically Latinx community made up of manufactured homes. Pinewood North has a branch library community center and a community garden, so the idea behind the first LatinxFest was to have a day where the gardeners could sell their products, make food and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Our mission is to give witness to the cultural contribution of the migrant community and Hispanic community in Athens.

Over the years, LatinxFest moved out of the Pinewood garden as it took on more partners such as Casa de Amistad, which is the oldest nonprofit in town to work with the Hispanic and migrant communities. We did another one in the J&J Flea Market, then we went back to Pinewood. In 2016, we had the first LatinxFest in downtown Athens, which really increased the scope to what people know the festival as today. Our constant partnership has been with Dignidad Inmigrante En Athens, who we always depend on to organize the event.

Shearer: What can attendees expect to see at this year's LatinxFest?

Mendoza: We'll have a troupe of traditional Mexican dancers who have participated in every single LatinxFest. They're a family who volunteered at a time when we didn't even have enough money to pay for their gas. Nowadays, we can support them, but what we can give is still not enough to match what their talent is worth. We will also have indigenous Peruvian dancers, a Brazilian jazz band, some Puerto Rican reggaeton music, a singer-songwriter who plays guitar and a 13-year-old Mariachi singer.

We'll also have Central American and Mexican food from vendors whose dishes you're not going to find in any restaurants in the Athens area, and La Parilla will have a food truck. There will be a small gallery of work by a Colombian artist in the patio of Creature Comforts, face painting, and Peruvian pottery by a group of women in Athens called Casa de la Cultura. There will also be kids' activities and info booths from various local organizations.

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Shearer: Traditionally, LatinxFest has taken place in October during Hispanic Heritage Month. Why was it moved from fall to summer this year?

Mendoza: UGA's calendar has made everything crazy. We can't do anything if there's a football game in town. Normally we like to have LatinxFest in the fall, but we moved it this year to try to avoid the craziness that happens in downtown Athens in the fall.

Shearer: When people ask you to describe LatinxFest, what do you usually tell them?

Mendoza: LatinxFest the most important celebration of the Hispanic and Latinx community, and not only in Athens. We have people who come in from surrounding counties as well, because there's nothing like this in places like Watkinsville, Hartwell, Elberton and Royston. Even though a lot of festivals take place in Gainesville, we still have people from there who come to Athens for LatinxFest. We have a presence in the community that attracts people from all around.

LatinxFest is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 on Washington Street in downtown Athens between Lumpkin Street and Hull Street. For details, visit facebook.com/LatinxFestAth.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Q&A with Athens LatinxFest co-founder Beto Mendoza, festival's origins