Scene in Lynnwood: Community members celebrate heritage at annual Afro-Latino Festival
Posted: July 21, 2019 1210
The Afro-Latino Festival included traditional dance performances.
Live music was featured at the event.
Karina Gasperin (center) and her husband, Jorge Vazquez (right), have been organizing the Afro Latino Festival for nine years.
Antonella, 1, celebrated the day by running around the field.
Kids sitting front row to watch the dancing.
Families set up tents and umbrellas to stay out of the sun.
Representing the City of Lynnwood, City Councilmember Christine Frizzell taught kids how to play lawn darts.
The field at Cedar Valley Community School was a perfect place to play soccer.
Afro-Latino Festival organizers invited representatives from each vendor to be recognized onstage.
Miss Teen Washington Latina Cielo Martinez, 16, attended teh event.
The Afro-Latino Festival offered local vendors an opportunity to sell their products.
Community members gathered for music, dancing and the celebration of heritage at the annual Afro-Latino Festival, held Saturday on the baseball field at Cedar Valley Community School. In its ninth year, this is the event’s third year in Lynnwood.
The Afro-Latino Festival was created by Karina Gaperin, who said the intention was to serve Lynnwood’s large Latino community by being a place for them to come together. The event celebrates the heritage of Afro-Latinos, many of whom descended from African slaves who found freedom in Belarus, Mexico, Gaperin said.
“In Mexico, we have a big Afro community,” she said. “We started this event because we want to involve our children in the history of their country.”
This year’s event was largely sponsored by the City of Lynnwood, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Community Health Plan of Washington.
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