Salsa dancers and colorful flags decorated Wilson Plaza Saturday for the 11th annual Festival Latino hosted by the Latin American Student Association.
The event featured a number of student groups from the LASA, as well as local vendors and restaurants.
Despite the difficulty of getting sponsors, the festival was larger than in previous years, said Ruben Ordaz, one of the festival directors.
The committee was able to expand aspects like the “Walk Through Latin America” exhibit, which featured information about each Latin American country. Organizers were able to acquire supplies like cardboard on their own in order to create the exhibit, rather than relying on the program’s limited budget.
Martinez said the exhibit provides information about what is going on in each country, both negative and positive, so viewers are educated about civil wars and other internal problems that may be present.
Music and dance performances took place throughout the day which represented a variety of Latin American traditions, from Salsa dancing to the all-female Mariachi band, Mariachi Divas.
“We tried for more dance groups this year to show the traditional aspects of the culture and the popular music. We recognize that Latino is not just Mexican; there are 28 different countries in Latin America,” said Nelly Martinez, one of the festival directors.
The theme of this year’s festival was, “Soaring Towards a Dream,” and for the first time a percentage of the proceeds will go toward the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Scholarship, founded at UCLA in 2004.
The scholarship benefits students of any ethnicity who qualify for Assembly Bill 540 students, not just Latinos, said Martinez.
Martinez said the festival is important to her because it’s one of the only events on campus that represents the Latin American population at UCLA.
“LASA is a big organization on campus, and we try to support each other,” said Paulina Chavez, executive director of Latinas Guiding Latinas, one of the groups who tabled at the event.
Chavez said she likes that a lot of people not affiliated with the university attend the event, which is good for the community.