Members of the Gainesville Latino community gathered July 13 to promote small businesses and Hispanic musical talent at the “Ceviche and Beer Festival.”
The event, organized by Radio Miraflores USA in collaboration with Trabajando Juntos, an organization dedicated to helping the community, was held at First Magnitude Brewing Company and saw a large turnout of families and friends enjoying an afternoon full of culture and fun.
From 1 to 8 p.m., attendees enjoyed live music featuring the Old Miami Band and Venezuelan singer Kharla Balbás, who delighted the audience with performances of merengue, salsa and other genres. The event also included Zumba and bachata classes, creating a festive and family-friendly atmosphere.
Coro Borjas, leader of Trabajando Juntos, felt gratitude for the collaboration of many city groups.
"The idea is to support small Hispanic businesses to get discovered and promote themselves," Borjas said.
Additionally, Borjas wants to bring together Gainesville’s Hispanic community however possible.
"We want to promote unity; many people are far from their families and roots… and we’re promoting education, art," she said.
Enrique Cano-Alva, owner of Radio Miraflores USA and a Gainesville resident for 12 years, highlighted the importance of providing spaces for the Latino community.
"Gainesville only has 18,000 Latino people, we are few, but we are here," Cano-Alva said. "[My] goal is to unite the Hispanic community."
With 45 years of experience organizing events, Cano-Alva aims to hold similar events every two and a half months.
Erika Ghersi, organizer of the Latino Women's League, also stressed the need for unity within the community.
"Among the various organizations, we support each other to improve the quality of these events," Ghersi said.
Ghersi believes these events help create a much more enjoyable environment for the Hispanic community, giving people the opportunity to support each other through difficulties.
"We are entering a period where if we do not come together, if we don’t have a single front, we will not be able to move forward," she said.
Contact Jose Carmona: JCarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on X: @JD_CarmonaS
Jose Carmona is a third-year journalism major and a reporter and translator for El Caimán. Besides his role, he loves to hang out with his friends, watch any kind of sports and play video games with his cat on his lap.
