Fiesta Fort Wayne is an enduring tradition, held almost every year since the late 1970s.

According to the 2020 census, Fort Wayne has more than 20,000 Hispanics and Latinos, making up just over 10 percent of the city’s population. Each year, Fiesta Fort Wayne strives to share the Hispanic experience with the city.

This year’s festival will be Saturday, Aug. 12, at Headwaters Park.

Learning experience

When I wrote my feature before the festival last year, I focused on the music, the dazzling folk dance groups filled with talented people of all ages in beautiful costumes, the wonderful food, and all the vendors and wares coming in from all over Indiana and neighboring states. All of that, and more, will be there this year. But when I attended the festival, I was struck by something bigger. 

Fiesta Fort Wayne, and the organizations that partner to sponsor the festival, are deeply invested in connecting individuals and families to the community in practical ways. It’s shown by all the groups that take out booths and tables. When you attend Fiesta Fort Wayne, whether you speak Spanish or English, you can meet people from businesses and organizations that can help you find a job, open a bank account, further your education for yourself or your children, find a church, sign up for phone service, rent or buy a home, and more. 

Vendors, dancing, and music

But first, let’s get to the food and the dancing and the music, the arts and crafts and shopping!

There will be around 20 food trucks and restaurants from all over northern Indiana and even a few from out of state. You can sample all kinds of tacos, Colombian and Tex-Mex dishes, snacks, candies and fruit with chamoy sauce, raspados (tropical fruit juice on shaved ice), and ice cream.

Around a dozen arts and crafts companies and jewelers will sell collectibles and wares from Mexico, Guatemala, and throughout the Latin American world. You can also buy the official T-shirt of Fiesta Fort Wayne, which proudly proclaims “I’m Just Here for the #Tacos.”

The highlight for many is the ballet folklorico dance groups with their graceful moves and bright colors. Groups appearing include: Grupo Amaneceres de Mexico, the Fort Wayne children’s troupe that delights folks in performances throughout the year; a nearby group called Ballet Folklorico Guadalupano; and the large and varied troupe Mosaicos, from Indianapolis. Danza Santa Cruz de northwest Ohio performs indigenous peoples’ dances.

Participants from the Miss Indiana Latina pageant will be presented.

Singers and musical groups include: Myra, la Flor de Michoacan; Fort Wayne’s Grupo Norteño; the cumbia ensemble Grupo Mezcal; Gatos del Tex-Mex; and local pop guitar band Cuadro 260.

Gathering Information

With regard to the businesses and organizations reaching out to the community, Whatzup has exclusive information from Fernando Zápari, publisher of Fort Wayne’s El Méxicano monthly newspaper, which puts on the festival.

“We have food vendors and social service agencies, Realtors, banks, and employment agencies, labor unions,” Zápari said. “The main reason is to provide folks, immigrants and people of all colors information. Our plan is to bring 70-plus social service agencies and businesses to come and showcase their information and talk to people, and provide resources for families.”

With all these organizations and companies, the final list is subject to change, but here is the information shared with us.

Groups providing help with jobs, and recruiting for positions include The Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the Fort Wayne Police Department, The Fort Wayne chapter of the Carpenter’s Union, Laborers’ Union Local 213, and City Wide Facility Solutions.

Embassy Theatre has also taken a table, as they are hiring for several staff positions.

Lutheran Hospital, Maple Heights Behavioral Health, Alliance Health Centers, Indiana Lasik Centers, the Indiana University School of Public Health, and the Down Syndrome Association of Northeast Indiana.

There will also be banks and financial groups with Flagstar, PNC, Partners 1st Federal Credit Union, real estate agencies, tax preparation companies, and the Primerica insurance company.

Fort Wayne Community Schools will be there to talk about enrollment and teaching your kids. The Allen County Public Library will have books and activities for the whole family. The Multicultural Center at Purdue University Fort Wayne is reaching out to students. The Questa Education Foundation will tell you about the help they provide getting young people into college. Also represented is Language Matters, an Indiana-based consulting company with translation services and language classes. 

Fort Wayne’s Unity Performing Arts Foundation will invite your family to participate in their youth choir, dance group, and leadership training.

Vida Pentecostal, Ebenezer, and Bethel churches will be selling food cooked fresh, and they’ll be happy to invite you to worship with them.

Community and activist groups will include the Martin Luther King Jr. Club, La Voz Unida, the Institute for Quality Education, and the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Human Relations Commission.

The Northeast Indiana Innovation Center and the Summit City Entrepreneur and Enterprise District (SEED) will talk business development.

The Indiana Commission on Hispanic and Latino Affairs and the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, both organs of the state government, will tell you about their economic and educational initiatives and a range of issues that affect Hoosiers.

It’s hard to believe they can fit all that into Headwaters Park in one day, a day that will also include dancing, music, food, refreshments and activities for the family and the whole Fort Wayne community.