DES MOINES, IA – The organizers of Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival today announced they will cancel the 2020 event, which was scheduled to take place on Sept. 26 and 27 at Western Gateway Park in downtown.
“Given current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that gatherings be limited and the potential danger of spreading COVID19 by bringing together thousands of people, we have decided to delay this year’s festival until 2021,” said Joe Gonzalez, the executive director of Latino Resources Inc., the umbrella organization that oversees the festival.
The festival started 20 years ago to honor Iowa’s youth and Latino business people and to celebrate the culture of more than 20 countries that Iowa’s Latinos originally call home. It draws thousands of individuals to Des Moines each year.
Organizers, with the help of festival sponsors, award $1,000 scholarships to Latino youth and plan to still do so this year, Gonzalez said.
“We want to honor our mission of supporting our youth with scholarships they can use to further their education or careers,” he said.
“We look forward to bringing the full festival back to Iowans in 2021,” Gonzalez said. “In the meantime, we ask people to support our local Latino businesses and to be on the lookout for special announcements that will take place the week of Sept. 21 to help celebrate our culture and Mexican Independence Day.”
For more information, visit www.latinoheritagefestival.org, or visit Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival on Facebook and @latinofestia on Instagram.
Facebook Comments
