Dia de la Raza celebrates Latino culture

Thursday evening Latinos Unidos held one of its biggest celebrations of the year -- Dia de la Raza.\nDia de la Raza falls on the same day as Columbus Day and used to be celebrated as the holiday's Spanish equivalent.\nMore recently, the holiday has become a celebration of Latino culture.\nTo celebrate this holiday, Latinos Unidos put together a special blend of education, entertainment and authentic dining. Displays exploring different indigenous tribes in South and Central America were set up around the room. Colorful paintings and pictures adorned the walls, pinatas hung from the ceiling, lights and streamers abounded and books on everything from poetry to politics were scattered around the room.\nA large crowd was expected, but La Casa wasn't large enough to hold the near 150 people that attended the event.\nPeople spilled out of the house onto the back porch where they jockeyed for a prime position to listen to the bands. Co-president of Latinos Unidos and senior Kian Karimi said he was very pleased with the turnout. \n"Dia de la Raza was a huge success," Karimi said. "People really got a chance to learn and get a more intimate sense of what the holiday means to many Latinos."\nLatinos Unidos arranged two bands representing two very different types of music to play at the festival. The Mariachi de la Flor performed first. They play traditional celebratory music and helped to kick off the festivities. Then Alma Azul played, led by singer Melisa Benavente, with a more modern mix of Latino favorites. The group played modern songs like "Smooth" from the Santana album and some of their originals.\nMario Brothers and Tortilla Flat provided food for the event.\nLuis Salazar, a senior and athletics coordinator for Latinos Unidos, said he was very pleased with the entertainment.\n"You can always tell a party is a success when the food disappears in two seconds and everyone actually gets up and dances," Salazar said. "Dia de la Raza is a very serious holiday, but it is also a time to celebrate, and this is a great time to do it since the weather is so nice and midterms are finally over with."\n There was a very diverse crowd at Dia de la Raza. Grandmothers mixed with college students, and professors sat side-by-side with small children. Senior Lucas Schroeder, a Spanish major who studied in Madrid last year, said the event gives people another perspective on Columbus day. \n "This is a fabulous celebration not only because it educates people on a different aspect of Columbus day than they are used to thinking about -- namely the mixing of the races -- but also because it is able to attract so many people who might otherwise not know anything about Latino culture"