Although Risa and Paul George visited the Florida Museum of Natural History with their three granddaughters to see the frog exhibit, they stayed for the Latino festival Saturday.
“We were going to be here anyway, so we were pleasantly surprised,” Risa said.
For the 13th year in a row, the Florida Museum, the UF Center for Latin American Studies and the Latina Women’s League, a nonprofit that promotes Latino and Hispanic culture in Gainesville, hosted a festival to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, said Ellie Grosteffon, the Latina Women’s League event coordinator.
The museum’s event, called Viva Museum!, was part of the Gainesville Latino Film Festival, a larger festival that is celebrated from Sept. 14 to Sept. 30, Grosteffon said.
About 200 people attended the free event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
“We want our community to know we’re part of it and know about the cultural enhancement Latinos bring to it,” Grosteffon said.
Viva Museum! was South American-themed and featured musical performances from 5 Notas, a Latin American band from Tallahassee, and Danzas PeruJax, a Peruvian dance group from Jacksonville.
The event also showcased artifacts from the museum’s South American collection, including a Peruvian candlestick, an Ecuadorian roof cross, a Bolivian straw basket and a Colombian armadillo-shaped piggy bank. High Springs Orchard & Bakery offered snacks for the attendees including coconut crunch cookies, empanadas and mango mojito chicken.
Risa said she thinks it’s important for the community to hold these types of events.
“There’s no other way to appreciate each other if we don’t know each other,” she said.
Risa said when her granddaughters — 4-year-old Evelyn, 2-year-old Evette and 11-month-old Evanee — saw the musical acts, they clapped and smiled brightly. When the last dance came around, they turned to their grandparents and asked “Is there more?”
Paul said he’s happy the museum, which he described as a gift to Gainesville, held the event.
“It’s not just a movie or TV,” he said. “It’s real.”
Ana Duran, a Colombian who moved to Gainesville last year after living in Boston for 12 years, said she attended the festival because she saw it on Facebook.
“I feel emotionally connected,” said Duran about the event. “These are my roots.”
She said she enjoyed the event and was surprised to see how well-organized it was, since she knew the Latino community was smaller in Gainesville than in Boston. Duran attended the event with her son Daniel, 9, and her daughter Sara, 2.
“This contact with the museum and cultural event is key to the kids’ education,” Duran said.
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