Food trucks, dance contests and a performance from A.B. Quintanilla — the brother of Selena — are all in order, as Boise’s Latino Fest is slated to set up shop in Cecil D. Andrus Park on Aug. 24.
COVID and logistical hurdles kept the celebration out of commission for five years, according to the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s (IHCC) cultural project manager Odette Gutierrez, but now it is back by popular demand.
“We finally said, OK, this is the year we have to come back. People were asking,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve grown a lot.”
Between 2015, when Latino Fest launched, and 2019, the event expanded from a turnout of 500 attendees to 5,000, and became a project of the IHCC. For the first time this year, it will open with a parade and close with a late-night after-party.
Gutierrez says Latino Fest aims to represent all the countries and cultures of Latin America, whether through music, food or the colors of a national flag. Each year, the festival pays a musical tribute to a different Latin culture, with this year’s being Puerto Rico and featuring the bomba, salsa and reggaeton genres.