La Cara Latina

With popular artists like Ricky Martin and Shakira, Latin music has been hitting the radio airwaves in the past few years. Held during a weekend when musical diversity is celebrated on campus, Saturday's Festival Latino will focus on local Latino talent from around Bloomington and Indiana.\nWhile many people might be busy planning their weekends around -- and buying tickets for -- Lotus Fest, the members of La Casa, IU's Latino Cultural Center, are holding their own mini-festival for free. \nLillian Casillas, director of La Casa, says she knows there are some people who can't afford admission to Lotus Fest. Festival Latino, she says, gives people an opportunity to participate in Lotus Fest without having to buy tickets. Like in previous years, La Casa is working in conjunction with Lotus Fest to put on Festival Latino.\n"The people who run Lotus Fest really do a lot for us to make sure we have a great partnership," Casillas says. "They give us a lot of access to great Latino music groups."\nFestival Latino, which will run from noon until 5 p.m. on Saturday, will be an afternoon of music, food, information booths and interaction with people from the community. The information booths will spotlight various Hispanic clubs on campus.\nSponsors for Festival Latino include IU's Office of the Vice President for Student Development and Diversity, the FASE Mentoring Program, Union Board and Lotus World Music Festival.\nSome of the musical artists scheduled to appear include three groups from the Indianapolis area. Conjunto Urbanos, which plays Cuban music; Tresuno-7, a 10-piece, a multinational band known for its Latin Tropical music from the Caribbean; and the Cool Chilies, who specialize in a variety of Latin dance music, will be making their way down from central Indiana; they have covered such songs as "La Bamba" and "Mambo No. 5." The show will feature one local act, the Brazilian-style Abacaxi.\nCasillas is excited about the performers this year and hopes the music is a great success.\n"We want to bridge that gap where we see not only bigger names from all over but the local talent as well," Casillas says.\nFestival Latino was first held in the fall of 1998, and Casillas says the event has been a popular attraction for many. Casillas hopes for a large turnout this year and says the festival's publicity committee has been advertising since August when freshman came down to campus for orientation. The festival's brightly-colored posters are visible all over campus, and Casillas recently publicized the event on a local radio station.\nSince Festival Latino has become such a large family event, La Casa has added something for the kids this year -- there will be a children's area featuring activities dealing with Latino culture. There will be six different tables in the children's area that will have crafts and games for children. The FASE Mentoring program and teachers from the community are sponsoring the children's area.\nCasillas said she loves to see all the children with their familes, but she wanted something special this year strictly for the kids. Casillas hopes to see Dunn Meadow full of students and families who come out to listen to the music and enjoy the free afternoon on Saturday. \n"What's really cool about it is it brings people together, not only people from campus, but also Latinos from off campus as well," she says.\nCasillas says she likes the fact that the festival falls during National Hispanic Heritage Month. She especially sees the festival as a way to celebrate Latino music and its influences.\nDonna Colon, a junior, likes many different things about Festival Latino but especially notices the variety of people who attend. \n"I like the fact that when I go there, I see all the different people dancing and the different cultures that kind of blend together," Colon says. "You see Hispanics there, you see whites there, and all sorts of races." \nColon will be working as a stage manager for the music at Festival Latino and says this year there will be a great variety of performers. She says she doesn't have a favorite group out of the line-up but looks forward to listening to them all.\nFreshman Jacqueline Ann Lopez recently became a part of La Casa and says she has heard a lot about the festival and the great music that is showcased. She says she is looking forward to her first experience at Festival Latino.\n"It will be a new experience for me, and I am really looking forward to the music and variety of people who attend," Lopez says. "I'm of course looking forward to the food as well."\nLopez says that, more than anything, she is excited about interacting with other students she hasn't met yet, and she can't wait to take her friends to the afternoon of hanging out and having fun.\nCasillas says the festival is starting to feel like a tradition and already has certain followers.\n"We usually have people who come and bring blankets and a picnic basket," she says. "They have a picnic and listen to the music and dance."\nColon says it's gratifying to see people having so much fun at the festival.\n"You see all sorts of people dancing, people who don't even know how to dance, but are having a great time," she says. "It's nice to see the kids, the college students and adults enjoying the festival. The community comes together and we get to share our Latino culture with them"