Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic Vision, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
A DJ blasted vibrant Latin music. Children, laughing and shouting, skittered about fountains of water sprouting from the sidewalk, and the delicious aroma of churros wafted through downtown San Jose’s Plaza de César Chávez.
For some of the hundreds who came to the joyous festival — Cultura in the Park — celebrating Latin American heritage on Saturday, it was a trip down memory lane.
“Events like these bring back a lot of nostalgia for me,” said Cecilia Garcia, a Latina resident of San Jose who once lived in Mexico.
“I love engaging with the Hispanic community and seeing all these young people getting in touch with their roots. … It’s nice that people who are not Hispanic also come to these events to get to know a little more about our culture,” she said.
The free festival’s focus was wide, highlighting the historical, traditional and contemporary aspects of Latino culture and art.
Booths lined the park offering porcelain tableware glistening in bright colors or emblazoned with Day of the Dead skulls, woven baskets, and the flags of South American and Central American nations.
A series of dances were performed by Calpulli Tonalehqueh, an Aztec dance group whose name means “warriors who accompany the sun.”
The dancers wore brightly colored decorative attire and face paint, and their sprawling feather headdresses gave them a striking presence on stage as they spun and stepped in synchronization to a steady beat reverberating from a wooden drum. Energizing the dance were occasional yips from the dancers and the rattling of ayoyote seeds fastened on their ankles. Some of the dancers burned copal, or tree resin, in ceremonial cups and wafted its sweet-smelling smoke in front of the audience.
“I found the dancers absolutely beautiful,” said Kennya Simms, an Atlanta resident who was visiting the Bay Area and stumbled upon the festival. “As someone who works in the film industry, I have a deep appreciation for the costumes and choreography of the dancers.”
All around the park, street curbs were lined with lowriders — modified classic cars that have been central to San Jose’s Chicano culture since the 1940s. Sitting on lawn chairs next to a dark red ’74 Buick Regal was Ruben “Monkey” Gastelum, who founded his own car club, A Toda Madre Lowrider Club.
Gastelum’s roots in lowrider culture go back to his childhood.
“I was born into this — my family’s always worked on cars. Every weekend my friends and I bring out our lowriders and park them together or drive around downtown, giving us a chance to spend time with each other and show off our cultural pride,” he said.
Cultura In The Park was the first in a series of events kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts through Oct. 15.
Ella Polak is a junior at Leland High School in San Jose. Rashel Naranjo is a sophomore at East Side College Preparatory in East Palo Alto.
