A fiesta without borders

The N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh always has been an especially Southern institution.

But the South is changing, and nothing makes this more clear than the strains of flamenco and smells of fried tortillas wafting from behind the turkey shoot and funnel cake stands this past weekend.

Saturday and Sunday, the Fairgrounds played host to La Fiesta del Pueblo, which bills itself as the largest Latino American festival in the Carolinas.

Founded in 1994, the festival's growth has mirrored the explosion of the Hispanic community in North Carolina - it started with just 2,000 people and grew to more than 60,000 this year, spinning off nonprofit organization El Pueblo Inc. along the way.

The festival is popular with people of all cultures, says Isabel Arguijo, 17, a volunteer working at the entrance. She estimated that a quarter of the attendees at La Fiesta were non-Hispanic.

"It's been really amazing," says Arguijo, who is originally from Mexico. "I didn't know other people liked our culture so much."

La Fiesta del Pueblo offered people a chance to reconnect with their culture and an opportunity for their kids to get a taste of their heritage.

"This is really a great opportunity for our children," says Sister Philo, a nun with the Hispanic Center of High Point. She accompanied five girls from her school to perform traditional mariachi tunes, "El Son de la Negra" and "El Jarabe Tapatio" (better known in English as the Mexican Hat Dance).

The girls, draped in their flowing, brightly colored traditional dresses, say they were nervous but excited.

But stage jitters weren't a problem for 11-year-old Ashley Fierra, who has been dancing since she was three. An aspiring dancer herself, she wanted to make a good impression.

"I feel like I want to present Mexico to everyone," she says. "We're presenting our culture."

Some UNC students even made the trip down to Raleigh because of their love of Latino culture.

"I just love Spanish - the food, and the music," says Kit Cox, a freshman history and Spanish double major.

Besides munching on Latino snacks - the Cuban food was "pretty excellent," she says - Cox wanted to get a taste of another culture.

"I really want to study abroad sometime, and this is just a little taste of what it'll be like."

But the carnival-like atmosphere might disguise one of La Fiesta's most important purposes - to transmit essential information to North Carolina's Latino community.

"Wake County is the second largest county in the U.S. in terms of growing Hispanic population," points out Don Mott, a volunteer at La Fiesta passing out information on adult English education.

Numerous organizations, from BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina to the N.C. Republican Party, also had booths set up.

The Hernandez family, originally from Mexico, traveled from Cary to seek out educational opportunities.

"We want some information, like pamphlets and stuff," says 7-year-old Alejandro Hernandez, translating for his father Jose.

Examples of the Hispanic experience in the United States were at every corner at La Fiesta del Pueblo. Remi the Puerto Rican clown entertained children next to Ronald McDonald. Pepsi and funnel cakes were sold beside fried churros and guava juice. A woman in a Beatles shirt danced to mariachi music.

And the children, more so than anyone else, realized this new world they're living in.

For now, Fierra, the young dancer, is aspiring toward pop-stardom, a peculiarly American institution.

"She wants to be like Jennifer Lopez or Selena (Quintanilla Perez)," her mother says, and then eyes the reporter suspiciously. "You do know who Jennifer Lopez is, right?"

Her daughter knows, and has a clear preference.

"I really think I'd rather be like Selena."

 

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.