HAAC Gives Atlantic City Latino Fest Boardwalk Flair
Scenes at the Atlantic City Latino Fest at the Showboat Hotel on Sunday, August 8, 2024. Photo by Meredith Winner/Mer-Made Photography.
esBY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY – The weather cooperated Sunday (Sept. 8) as more than two thousand people traveled to the Atlantic City Boardwalk behind the Showboat Hotel for the annual Atlantic City Latino Festival, put on by the Hispanic Association of Atlantic County.
After years at Bader Field, the AC Latino Festival celebrated its second consecutive year that the at the Showboat Hotel. Bad weather forced the event inside a year ago. Under blue sky and a light breeze on Sunday, attendees were greeted with near perfect weather.
“We had that storm last year, so we had to bring everything inside,” said Bert Lopez, longtime president of HAAC and an executive at Atlantic City Electric. “Today, we’re right along the Boardwalk so everything is beautiful.”
With the outdoor space sitting at the foot of Atlantic City’s famed Boardwalk, many of those just passing by paused for moment to take pictures and to en,joy most of the music.
The AC Latino Fest has long been associated with Hispanic Heritage Month, which traditionally runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Lopez said the weather inspired HAAC to hold the festival a little earlier this year.
“Since we’re close to the beach, we want to extend the summer a little bit and bring some of our Latino culture to the Boardwalk,” Lopez said. “We always celebrate our heritage from different countries. So this is not just Puerto Rican event or a Mexican event, it’s a Latino American event.
“We have vendors from Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Peru. The entertainment is just as diverse. That was very intentional. We wanted to make sure we had representation from all of Latin America.”
Lopez said the event had about 15 food and product vendors and another 20 resource vendors like the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office and the South Jersey Family Health Centers.
“Atlantic County is about 25% Spanish-speaking,” said Shavonne Davis, the outreach coordinator with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. “With our office we want to make sure that we reach all of our community. A lot of the Latino community don’t know we have Spanish-speaking personnel in our office.
“We have prosecutors and victim advocates who are there to help them. So, in order to build trust in our community, specially in immigrant populations who are already a little leery of law enforcement, we want to show that we are people who are here for them and care for them and want to connect with them genuinely.”
One of the vendors, Xochilquetzal Artesantas Mexicanas, sold hand-made Mexican jewelry from their booth. The vendors said family members made the original pieces for sale.
Lopez said music has already been the hallmark of the AC Latino Fest, cover the many genres of Hispanic music that is expansive as the culture itself. Oro Solido with Raul Acosta was the headliner Sunday night.
Other entertainers and their music Sunday included La Mega DJ MC Maria de Ilar, AFOVIC (Folkloric de Peru) Tavito Band (Typical Puerto Rico), Joyas de Honduras (Folkloric), Swing de Guille, Glory Ro’z, El Ballet Folklorico Yaretzi, Mariachi Flores, Rompre Corazones de Vallenato Y La Cumbia, Los Amigos Del Jeffe, Jo-SAV, Las Gitanas de La Cumbia and Elinoy Evo.
The Hispanic Association of Atlantic County advocates to empower and advance the inclusion of Hispanics in all sectors of Atlantic County and State of New Jersey, while preserving its cultural heritage.
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