Celebrating Mexican culture

INVERCARGILL

THE colours and flavours of Mexico filled the Southern Institute of Technology at the weekend.

The Southland Multicultural Council promoted the event Mexican Fiesta on Saturday.

Coorganiser Rodrigo Revilla said Invercargill’s Mexican community was growing, so they decided to create the event to celebrate their culture.

‘‘As we have more and more people from the community living here, we decided to do the first Mexican celebration in Invercargill.

‘‘I think we are 12 [Mexican students at SIT] and this is a big number for our community.’’

About 200 attendees tried the Mexican flavours, culture and traditional games, including a ‘‘chilli contest’’ where people tried three traditional spicy salsas — mild, hot and super hot.

Mexican national Jorge Hernandez has been living in Invercargill for seven years, and said it was a great opportunity to share their culture with the community.

However, he believed the majority of people would only give the mild salsa a try, as he thought the super hot could be ‘‘too strong’’ for New Zealanders.

PHOTO: LUISA GIRAO Celebracion . . . Invercargill family Tyrone Tainui, Tytus (4), Sarina and Tingah (10) Faalologo dress up for the Southland Multicultural Council’s Mexican Fiesta at the Southern Institute of Technology on Saturday.