Festival Latino returns as ¡Viva Festival Latino en Concierto!
To celebrate Latin music, food, fashion, art and tradition, the annual Festival Latino will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. on Saturday at the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons for a one-night musical extravaganza.
It’s a return to the annual festival, one that’s centered on honoring Latin culture and the unification of communities from all corners of Greater Columbus. And given last year’s move to a virtual celebration, Festival Director Rich Corsi said he’s happy to bring the event back.
“It’s been an incredible ride in producing Festival Latino,” he said. “We went from small bands in years past, and literally tens of thousands of people have come from all walks of life, not just Latino. It’s a big house party down there.”
The annual event, organized by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, originally began as a five-hour pilot project by the City of Columbus in 1996. And for 25 years, its commemorated Latin American culture with food vendors, performance stages and kidfriendly areas every August in Downtown Columbus.
While those cultural offerings and sense of community will remain, Corsi said Saturday’s event has undergone some major changes because of COVID-19.
Along with the move from Genoa Park along the Scioto River, the former two-day festival will be ¡Viva Festival Latino en Concierto!, a free, one-night concert offering international Latin jazz, hip-hop, salsa and funk acts live on stage at the Columbus Commons.
Hosted by Dominican American comedian Radel Ortiz, the lineup includes jazz band Yumbambe at 5 p.m.; ranchero artist Patrick Shannon at 6:15 p.m.; Nyc-based band Funk Salsa Urban at 7:15 p.m.; and rap-house act Fulanito at 9 p.m.
The concerts will be supplemented with a series of online videos and activities that highlight some of the best features of Festival Latino — Latin music, food, dance, children’s activities and fashion.
Food trucks will be operating on-site and beverages, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, will also be available for purchase. Outside food and drink are prohibited.
Corsi, who also serves as vice president of programming at CAPA, said the
concert will also have limited capacity.
While accustomed to tens of thousands of fans circulating Genoa Park throughout the weekend, Corsi said he and other organizers are expecting up to 4,000 attendees, making it easier for social distancing within the Columbus Commons.
At past events, attendees were allowed to freely walk in and out of the annual festival, but this year, guests will have to reserve their tickets ahead of the celebration.
“It’s good for us to step back, control the capacity and space out so it’s a comfortable
and safe event for everybody,” Corsi said.
Corsi strongly encourages the use of face masks and urges anyone who’s feeling ill to livestream the event and come back for next year’s festival.
Arturo Martinez, a self-proclaimed “friend of the festival,” has helped draw in musical acts to perform at the event for more than a decade. In that time, he recalls several years spent witnessing the merging of cultures at Columbus’ Festival Latino.
For Martinez, a Florida resident who
lends a hand with the musical acts, those memories made him fall in love with the event and encouraged him to embrace his role as an adopted child of the capital city.
“Seeing the evolution the whole time has been amazing,” he said. “But more than anything, it’s definitely the people of Columbus being so cool and seeing the growth of the Latino community as well. It’s like wow, this thing has gone to a great level.”
Despite the changes, Martinez said he expects the reinforcement of family and community, an element that brings him and so many others back to Greater Columbus each year.
“My expectation is I’m looking forward to it,” Martinez said. “I just know the people love the festival for what it is — the food, music and family time.
“It’s a day and a time to forget about everything else. There are so many woes going on in the world, and I think this will be a time to forget about all of them.” ehopkins@dipsatch.com @Earl_hopkins1