Iowa’s Latino Festivals are in full force this year

The celebration of Latino culture usually starts in August and runs through October in anticipation of Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from September 15 - October 15. Mark your calendars because Fiesta time is here and Hola Iowa has created our annual list of some of the Festivals celebrating Latino culture in Iowa.

Latino Celebration at Iowa State Fair August 14, 2022 from 7 PM to 9 PM

Iowa State Fair is getting a little Latino flavor added in. Come out on August 14 and stay for Latino Celebration with Parranderos Latin Combo. They will perform at the Ann & Bill Riley Stage.

Iowa State Fair will be on East 30th Street and East University Avenue in Des Moines, IA. The Iowa State Fair runs from August 11 to 21, 2022. For more information go to iowastatefair.org

Latino Fest in Iowa City August 27, 2022 from 12 PM to 9 PM

This celebration is full of fun for whole families to enjoy. Food vendors selling great food from Mexico and Central America. Live music and fun activities for kids. Traditional dance groups and even a chance to learn to dance with experienced dance instructors. This is promising to be a fun event for all families to enjoy. Latino Fest in Iowa City will be at Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City on E Washington Street (between Dubuque St and Linn St).

St. Joseph’s Parish Festival, West Liberty Sunday, September 4 from 1:30 PM to 6 PM In front of the church

have Maria Duran’s famous authentic pupusas vs Alicia Vieyra, a parishioner from Davenport, famous authentic tacos. Try both and let us know your pick! Scheduled to appear Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico 2-2:30 PM LULAC West Liberty Scholarship Presentation 3 PM Danza Guadalupana de West Liberty 4 PM

Fiesta Latina de West Liberty September 10, 2022 from 3 PM-9:30PM Before the event, there will be the Children’s Festival from 10 AM-3 pPM

Fiesta Latina de West Liberty, Downtown West Liberty. Music, Great food from Latinamerica, lots of fun and childrens’ activities. The entertainment headliner will be announced soon.

The Fiesta Latina will at West Liberty Center (3rd Street; between Calhoun Street and Spencer Street).

The Storm Lake Proud Multicultural Festival September 10 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

This is the first year for this festival. It is expected to have around 30 different cultures represented at this festival. There will be food, dance, music, and representations of traditions from different countries. The whole community is invited to attend this event. Free admission.

The Storm Lake Proud Multicultural Festival will take place at Chautauqua Park located at 401 Chautauqua Park Dr, Storm Lake, IA.

LULAC Fiesta Night September, 10 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Celebration of Mexican Independence with Monarchs and Mariachi at the Putnam Museum. Displays and fun activities for whole families. Celebration of the Monarch butterflies and their yearly migration to Mexico. There will be catrinas and the crowning of the Fiesta Queen. Entertainment by Glenview Mariachi Band, Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico and Grupo Innstinto.

The Putnam Museum is located at 1717 W 12th St. Davenport, IA.

Viva Ottumwa International Festival September 11, 2022 from 11 AM to 7 PM

Great event for community members. Food vendors, dance and music, and lots of fun activities for kids.

Viva Ottumwa International Festival will take place at Quincy Place Mall located at 1110 Quincy Ave, Ottumwa, IA

Kermes at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church - Davenport September 11 from 10 AM to 5 PM

Food and fun times for everyone in the community to enjoy. There will be DJ and even a crown. Presentations by Ballet Folklorico, Danza Asuncio,n and many fun kids activities.

Kermes at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church located at 417 N Main Street, Davenport.

Fort Madison Mexican Fiesta September 14, 15, and 16 all day.

A huge family fun celebration with dancing, music, food, the crowning of Queens and Princesses, pepper eating contest, and others. Music by Crooked Cactus from the Quad Cities on Saturday night. The official part of the program begins at 6 pm on September 15. A little bit of everything for everyone to enjoy. Follow them on Facebook Fort Madison Mexican Fiesta est. 1921

Fort Madison Mexican Fiesta at 34th St and Avenue Q in Fort Madison, IA

Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival September 24 from 10 AM to 11 PM and September 25 from 10 AM to 6 PM.

One of the biggest Latino celebrations in Iowa!: This year’s theme for this celebration is A Taste of Latin America. Vendors, exhibitions, food and lots of music. Fun activities for kids and performances. Not an event to be missed!

Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival will be at Western Gateway Park in Des Moines, IA. For more information go to www. LatinoHeritageFestival.org

Festival Latino de Cedar Rapids September 18 from 11 AM to 5 PM

Dust up your best dancing shoes and mark the calendar because this year the Cedar Rapids Latino Festival is promising to be memorable as they have announced the renowned band Sonora Dinamita has their headliner for the festival. The Cedar Rapids Latino Festival will be held on September 18, 2022, from 11 AM to 5 PM at the McGrath Amphitheater located at 475 1st At SW, Cedar Rapids, IA. This Latino Festival celebrates its 12th year. And as always the whole community is invited to come and join the fun. For the first time, Cedar Rapids’ very own Ballet Folklorico Fuerza Cultural Cedar Rapids will be performing during this event. Also, the local music band, Grupo Diferencia de Oaxaca will play their music for the participants’ enjoyment. The Cedar Rapids Latino Festival will offer a variety of activities for kids as well. Kids will have fun breaking piñatas during the day. There will be representatives from the local soccer club. They will set up a space where kids can kick the ball around. Also, Los Primos Boxing Club, the local boxing program, will have some match presentations going on.

Stay tiuned to HolaIowa.com for more updates on the Latino Festivals for this season.

Photo by Tar Macias / Hola Iowa

GUEST EDITORIAL

Dear LULAC of Iowa members,

I am reaching out to report back on behalf of our delegation to the 2022 LULAC National Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week. Overall it was a productive trip but we did have an issue with the elections at the National Assembly. The national elections were suspended due to a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that was issued to LULAC and its National Board by a District Court in Texas that prevented the assembly from holding elections. To put it broadly - the TRO which was petitioned by a LULAC Council in Dallas, Texas, alleges that a partisan organization in Puerto Rico called the New Popular Party (NPP) devised a plan to take over LULAC and its leadership by funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to LULAC operatives and leadership on the mainland and island. This allegedly involved creating hundreds of “paper councils” on the island to create illegitimate delegates, paying transportation and hotels for votes, and influencing LULAC operatives to run for LULAC National Board. The Iowa delegation received the TRO the morning of the assembly so we did not attend. Unfortunately, since it’s one of the main reasons to go and represent our membership and have our voice heard as a state charter. However, an illegitimate election still took place that was mostly led by LULAC operatives and leadership involved in the alleged scheme - breaching the TRO that was issued. This action of holding an illegitimate election and the ongoing investigation has so far resulted in the suspension of several LULAC National Officers and the immediate discharge of former LULAC CEO Sindy Benavides. These types of actions can also result in expulsion from the league, fines, lawsuits, and jail time. I am sharing this to make sure our leaders and members are aware of what is going on at the national level in case we are not receiving press releases or hearing the news. We do not want outside partisan groups to influence LULAC. This is also the result of LULAC leadership over the years ignoring calls to update the draconian voting process and close constitutional loopholes to avoid situations like this. LULAC National who promotes democracy and champions voting should not have issues in their own house. LULAC of Iowa will continue to focus on state and local issues. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or action items on this topic. I will keep our leaders/members up-to-date.

Thank you,

Nicholas Salazar - State Director League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa

Hola America News August 4, 2022

20 Iowa cities with large Latino populations feel shortchanged by census undercount

By Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio

A simple look at the signs on Main Street in Denison reveal the diversity of the residents that reside here. A quick stroll and you’ll stumble across Lovan’s Asian market. Round a corner, and you’ll see signs advertising an African grocery store. But, if you follow the upbeat rhythm of traditional Mexican music, you’ll land at Erven Chavez’s La Michoacana Krazy Delights. The owner of the ice cream shop moved to Denison in 2009. Since then, Chavez has started two of his own businesses in town. But, it wasn’t until 2020 that the Guatemalan immigrant learned what the census does. “We can tell the people how important that is,” Chavez said. “Because they don’t know. I didn’t know that either. Until we had a meeting with the police chief and he explained that to us.” In the 2020 census, Latino communities were undercounted by nearly 5 percent nationally – a significant increase from the decade prior. And, while the Census Bureau didn’t report a significant undercount for Iowa, city officials in towns with large Latino and minority populations said the census numbers do not reflect what they see in their communities. The disparity can mean greater obstacles to building the infrastructure they need.

Building the trust

When the Denison chapter president of League of United Latin American Citizens, Alma Puga, saw the Census Bureau’s estimate for the population for her town, she was angry. She said it didn’t align with what she saw out in the community. “I see it every day,” Puga said. “There’s new immigrant populations coming, and I felt like that was very underrepresented.” According to the Census Bureau, the western Iowa town only grew by 75 people from 2010 to 2020, putting its

Denison LULAC chapter president Alma Puga stands in her office. She was a part of the Count Committee to try to prevent an undercount in Denison. Photo by Kendall Crawford/IPR

population at around 8,400. But, city officials say that’s not the reality. They estimate another 2,000 people didn’t participate in the decennial count. Puga was part of Denison’s Count Committee, which held events to help people fill out their census form. In her outreach, she found that there were many residents like Chavez who were unaware of its purpose and, more importantly, its consequences. She said many residents were fearful of the survey – especially those who where undocumented. And, in 2019, as former president Donald Trump pushed for a citizenship question to be added to the Census, that fear was heightened. She said she believes government distrust – alongside COVID-19 – stopped a lot of people from being counted. “Some concerns were ‘Are they going to use it against me? Like the information is going to be confidential?’,” she said. “I had a couple people tell me ‘Well, what use if things are going to stay the same? What difference does it make?’”

Inadequate funding

But, the census can have big financial implications for a community – especially smaller Iowa towns. The number of residents counted determines how much a town receives in Road Use Tax Funds (RUTF) – which help communities construct and maintain their roadways. That means, Storm Lake mayor Mike Porsch has a disappointing math problem to solve. He estimates around 30 percent of their population was missed in the count. Each person is tied to around $126 in funds. That all adds up to nearly $400,000 that the community won’t receive. “And you multiply that by 10 years before your next census, it’s $4 million dollars that you don’t have through that whole period of time because of the census,” he said. “That would be the entire snow removal budget.” Denison city manager Bradley Hanson estimated that the town comes up short around $200,000 in funds due to its undercount. He said that roughly equates to redoing an entire block of roads and the infrastructure underneath.

He said the loss in funds has a domino effect. Although the city has some pandemic aid dollars to help address infrastructure, Hansen said, further down the line, they’ll have to look to other means to get the missing revenue.

“Unfortunately our taxes are going to increase to be able to do that extra block or whatever we need,” Hanson said. “And usually the people that live on that block will be the ones that pay for at least a portion of it.”

A barrier to progress

Another concern for city officials, like Storm Lake city councilwoman Maria Ramos, is how an inaccurate count could potentially stifle economic development for the town. Ramos said she often hears questions from constituents about why the community can’t bring in more businesses and attractions. “How come JC Penney doesn’t come to Storm Lake? How come we don’t have a mall? How come the bigger chain restaurants don’t come to Storm Lake?,” Ramos said residents often ask. “What they need to understand is that that’s what they look at. They need to understand that they look at our population size and decide whether businesses are going to be profitable here.” This fear – that impactful decisions will be made based on faulty data – extends to health providers, housing developers and social services. At the Storm Lake Middle School, superintendent Stacey Cole said you can see the need for more community resources. Even during the summer, the school is crowded with kids. She said that’s partly because the school has become a vital provider of social services to the almost 3,000 students in the district. “Our need looks a lot smaller than what our need actually is,” Cole said. “So because we can’t count on getting outside agencies to the community, then we have to put that in place internally, to make sure that those things are still done.” It means making hard decisions – like whether to hire a school therapist to address community mental health or another third grade teacher to tackle large classroom sizes. It also limits their ability to address the diverse set of needs in the district, Cole said. Without the ability to partner with outside agencies, there’s less funding and resources to develop projects that could grow into fully grant-funded programs. “[Funders] say if it’s not important enough to you to put money into, it’s not important enough to us,” she said. “And the issue is that we just have very unique challenges that stop some of that stuff from happening.”

The next decade

Denison faces much of the same. The town’s most recent housing survey showed that the community is in need of 200 additional housing units, but Puga worries about how the town will address the shortage when it can’t use the census to lure developers in. “These developers are not going to want to come to our county. They’re not gonna want to build here,” Puga said. “They’re gonna think we’re pretty much dying. But we’re not.” For residents, like Chavez, it’s sad to see the community continue to struggle without the infrastructure to support its rapid growth. He said he’d like to see more companies, more housing and a sports complex for the town. “Because we want to make Denison better every day. Why? Because our kids are here. And they are growing here. And we love Denison, too,” Chavez said. He said he hopes, over the next decade, housing developers and health providers will grow to love the town, too. Despite what the numbers say.