Latin music, laughter and local community members filled the streets of downtown Graham on Sept. 22 during Esperanza, the fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Month festival. The Esperanza festival included live music, cultural performances and vendors — including food, crafts, local businesses and community resources.
At the end of the rows of vendors and tables was a stage, where a DJ played Latin music, and chairs for event goers to watch the various cultural performances and dance routines. To the right of the stage, a man painted a vibrant photo of two flamenco dancers on a canvas.
Local Burlington artist Artie Barksdale was invited to do a live painting inspired by Latino and Hispanic culture. By capturing the art and grace of flamenco dancing, Barksdale said he hoped to foster conversation about all aspects of Latin art, including the art of dance.
"I can't dance," Barksdale said. "But I can paint."
Barksdale said he hopes to sell the completed painting and donate the money to the festival to ensure the continuation of such events.
Crossroads, one of the festival's seven supporting organizations, oversaw the recruitment and management of volunteers, assisted community service organizations and ran the event's social media.
Nicole Gutierrez, Crossroads volunteer and community education coordinator, said while the event is designed to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, everyone is welcome.
"We want all of the Alamance community to come," Gutierrez said. "It's for the entire community."
Gutierrez said events such as the Esperanza festival are important because they create deeper connections within the community and recognize the people who make up that community and what they bring to it.
Elon senior and Crossroads volunteer Maddy Waxman said from an Elon student perspective, it is important to get off campus and into the community to learn about the different resources and organizations in Alamance.
"I feel like Elon students live in that Elon bubble, and Graham is so accessible," Waxman said. "It's a great way to learn about other organizations that are available to us. There is a way to register to vote, a way to learn more about Alamance Community College, and a bunch of other things that I feel like Elon students don't know about."
Waxman said getting out of the Elon bubble and into the community through fun events like this brings Elon students closer to the people living in Alamance.
"It's so much fun," Waxman said. "It's just such a great way to get to talk to people and meet people that live in the community because we live in the community, but it's very separated, it feels like sometimes. So it's nice to get to talk to real families who live here."
Dancers perform to live music at the Alamance Hispanic Heritage Festival on Sept. 22 in Graham. Live music and dances played throughout the event.
Yulie Yanez, a volunteer at the Hispanic Federation table, talked to people about what the non-profit offers throughout North Carolina — civic engagement, free or low-cost clinics and even helping people register to vote. As a first-time volunteer at the event, Yanez said she loved seeing the diversity of Alamance's community and was happy to be a part of an event that supports that community.
Children performed special traditional dances to emphasize the importance of passing down tradition to preserve their culture. The event announcers introduced the kids by saying that if parents don't pass down traditions, then it is at risk of being lost here in the U.S.
One of the craft vendors, Magli Santos, embraced the importance of passing down traditions to the next generation through her 13-year-old daughter, Arleth Federico Santos. After being taught how to make jewelry using chaquira beads by her mother, Magli Santos is currently teaching Arleth how to do it so that she can carry on their traditional Mexican art form into the next generation — preserving and celebrating their unique culture.
Magli Santos sells bracelets and jewelry at the Alamance Hispanic Heritage Festival on Sept. 22 in Graham. After being taught how to make jewelry using chaquira beads by her mother, Santos is currently teaching her daughter how to do it so that she can carry on their traditional Mexican art form to the next generation.
Volunteering with Yanez for the Hispanic Federation, Sarai Serrano said the event's highlight was the people and seeing how many different cultures and backgrounds came together to celebrate the community and Hispanic Heritage Month.
"Something that I really like about this event is just the diversity of people that it brings, even though it is a Latinx festival," Serrano said. "I look around, and I see people from all over with different skin colors and different cultures. I think we are living in such a time where there is seclusion and just difficult times for people of color, and looking around and seeing that everyone is from all over the place just brings me happiness."