Centro Latino of Iowa held its eighth annual Iowa Latino Festival on Saturday in Bayliss Park to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
When the festival started in 2013 it was held in a parking lot. It’s grown from there, moving to Bayliss five years ago.
“We wanted to create an event where the Latino community and the community at large meets,” said Centro Latino Executive Director Ramon Calzada.
At the festival there was a children’s area, businesses and organizations with booths offering a variety of information, food trucks, music, dancing and more.
Charity Moten said she came out to the event to “see more of what Council Bluffs has to offer.”
“I wanted to learn more about my town,” she said. “It’s really cool to see and learn about different cultures all within Council Bluffs.”
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Calzada said the Latino population has been growing over the last 20 years. In the early 2000’s, the Latino population was roughly 2%, in 2010 it was at 11%. He’s waiting on final 2020 numbers.
“As the population grows, the other agencies need to be language accessible and culturally competent,” he said.
For more information about Centro Latino of Iowa visit sucentrolatino.com.
“It’s a great time to experience cultures,” Calzada said.