
Organizers of Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival will accept submissions for the festival’s annual poster contest through July 15.
Two students’ poster designs will be selected to receive scholarships: $1,000 for first place, along with use of the design on all printed materials for the 2016 festival; and $500 for second place.
The 2016 festival also will move to a new venue: Western Gateway Park in downtown Des Moines.
“We’re excited about this new location and to bring our event to more of the heart of the downtown Des Moines area,” said Joe Gonzalez, executive director of Latino Resources Inc., the umbrella organizations that oversees the festival.
Each year, dozens of Iowa postsecondary students apply to have their design selected as the one that will be used for the printed materials that publicize the festival.
Those who will submit a design are asked to notify Gonzalez in advance at [email protected]. Poster contest designs must meet the following criteria to be considered:
Depict the diversity of the Latino community using the theme “A Cultural Celebration.” Designs that portray only one country will be disqualified.
• The date and time of the 2016 festival: Sept. 24, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sept. 25, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• The location of the festival: Western Gateway Park in downtown Des Moines.
• Submit the design in a PDF format to [email protected] and [email protected].
The Latino Heritage Festival is one of the most widely attended cultural events in Iowa, with between 10,000 and 20,000 people attending the two-day festival.
The festival includes various musical entertainment, dancers, martial arts performers, a children’s area, Latin American foods, a health village, an art tent, booths about the countries represented at the festival and more.
This year’s festival will feature more local entertainment acts that include Los Jóvenes Embajadores and Los Ninos del Tepeyac folkloric dancers.
The festival will be promoted through social media sites Instagram and Facebook with #ialatinoheritagefestival.
Cost to attend is $5 for adults and $1 for children 12 and younger.
For more information, visit www.latinoheritagefestival.org, or contact Melissa Walker at 515-681-7731 or [email protected]. Visit Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival on Facebook and #ialatinoheritagefestival on Instagram.