NOTE: Fiesta Fridays is a special series to highlight the many memories I have of Fiesta through the photographs I’ve taken since 2003.
For Fiesta 2016 there was a renewed focus on our Cultural Village and what makes it the “Corazon” of our event each year. We depend on the kindness of the Hispanic community when it comes to pulling this village together. It is because these community members want to share a bit about their countries of origin that the village is always such a wonderful place.
This year we decided to have a competition to encourage participants to take it up a notch or two. Word got out quickly when this was announced on social media and we had quite a turnout. Not to mention, the booths were incredible! Our cultural village chair and board member, Lui Fernandez, always has something special in mind as he creates the village atmosphere. This year, he really wanted to encourage the community to sign up early for our 15th anniversary celebration and he decorated a booth with photos from all the previous Fiestas. It was such a great way, in my opinion, to personalize the village even more!
The winner of the competition was chosen by three anonymous judges who went through the village throughout the day to observe and make notes. At the end of the day, Mexico won the competition and a $500 prize! Interestingly, the Mexico booth also has photos displayed all over the tent of past Fiestas! Great minds…as they say!
Fiesta 2016 was also warmer than the year before! If you read my post from last week you’ll remember that it was a cold and drizzly day. This year made up for it with blue skies and warm weather. It was beautiful… And because of this, I think that’s why I remember people dancing so much! We decided to use the gazebo in Linn Park as a Dance Station this yea and got DJ Ivan Correa to host music there. He is always so wonderful and engaging with people. He gave dance lessons and would also draw pictures of people who took a quick lesson from him. Each time I went by there was always a steady stream of people.
Last but certainly not least, we had the McDonalds Fiesta Tour return for a third year thanks to our Title Sponsor, McDonalds! This year, the tour went through a bit of a makeover with updated colors, design and also some new items on display.
Here are a few more photos from that day – some for how colorful they are and others because they are of family and friends who make Fiesta so much fun because they are there…
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Fiesta Fridays series as much as I’ve enjoyed going through my photos and telling them. If you are in Birmingham on Saturday, September 30, 2017, I hope to see you at Fiesta for our 15th anniversary…and if you are, SMILE! I’ll have my camera and you may just end up in my Fiesta photo collection!
Southern Señora 