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    GCAC Presents: Festival Latino 2015 to Spice up Downtown

    After humble beginnings as a five-hour pilot project by the City of Columbus in 1996, Festival Latino has become the largest Latin event in Ohio, offering a free, family-friendly event that celebrates Latin America with two days of children’s activities, music, food, fashion, art, and dance.

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    Produced by CAPA (Columbus Association for the Performing Arts), Festival Latino 2015 will showcase performances from international Latin artists including Jose Peña Suazo y La Banda Gorda (Dominican – Merengue), Banda Machos (Mexican – Banda/Quebradita), Luis Vargas (Dominican – Bachata), and Oscar D’Leon (Venezuelan – Salsa/Caribbean). Ohio-based Latin musicians will also be featured including David Lamus, Grupo Persa, Al Son Del Iya, El Seven, and Ritmo Ondas featuring Zancudo.

    A concert from Festival Latino on the Bicentennial Park stage. Photo by Randall L. Schieber.
    A concert from Festival Latino on the Bicentennial Park stage. Photo by Randall L. Schieber.

    The children’s area will offer a wide variety of activities for families, including crafts, local sports team mascots, balloon twisting, and COSI’s Science Spot, a collection of hands-on kiosks with activities to help teach basic science concepts. COSI will also perform their live, liquid oxygen show at the Festival to teach children about one of the coldest liquids on earth and the amazing things it can do.

    The artists’ showcase and authors’ showcase will display the works of Ohio-based, Latin artists and authors, while local models will present a Latin fashion show demonstrating the progression of fashion from traditional Latin clothing to the modern designs of today’s young Latino designers.

    And what would be a festival without food? Festival Latino offers a wide selection of Latin cuisine from vendors representing flavors from many different countries. No matter your favorite fare—Cuban, Mexican, Venezuelan, Colombian, Puerto Rican, or Brazilian—it’s all there to sample and savor.

    Festival Latino is a weekend of fantastic food, phenomenal entertainment, and tons of interactive family fun, so join the celebration Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8 and 9, 2015 from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily at Bicentennial Park downtown. Admission is free.

    For more information, visit FestivalLatino.net. Photos by Randall L. Schieber.

    GCAC Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus – in partnership with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association, a professional development and networking association of arts marketers. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at the arts in Columbus.

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