Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the District

There were multiple events around the district celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Many of these events are long standing traditions in DC and I was very excited to be able to participate in them. I went to art galleries and other smaller events hosted by the Smithsonian, something I have always wanted to do in DC. My favorite events overall were festivals I went to at the National Zoo and another one downtown on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was really refreshing to be surrounded by Spanish speakers again and I found a lot of my favorite treats that I miss from home. Although the crowd make up was overwhelmingly of El Salvadorans, I definitely found significant representation of Mexican food, vendors, live music, and traditional dance performances. 

Photo from Washington Hispanic, "Más de 100 mil en Fiesta DC." 

The second festival I went to was Fiesta DC. It was very well attended, with reports of over 100,000 people at the festival. It was a huge one-day event that hosted three large stages, many vendors, a lot of local nonprofits and community organizations, and of course a large parade representing the multitudes of cultures from all over Latin America. I was wonderfully surprised to find a solo performance from Pee Wee, member of former boy band Kumbia Kings and my middle school crush.

This year Hispanic Heritage Month was also a bit more interesting as President Obama signed a proclamation in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month in September and established the Cesar E. Chaves National Monument in October. Even when WAIP went on a tour of the White House there were paintings displayed from Latino artists. It’s always refreshing to experience your heritage history acknowledged and celebrated in mainstream venues.

Written by Amber Seira  | @amber_seira