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wuenuoo cummcu! - Wednesday, luly I l. 2012 . I7 Latin heat I I O 0 O O 0 KW Summer Lathest takmg tt to the next level with mternalwnal performers By BouVitmm: ed a festival high in artistic excel- Lopei kind of phase people were I I F " - £3. ‘ ', . ' .' ' a (lglttgjgjyfi lence and merit and people are goingthrough. N " _. “ ‘ .A H” i " here toseethe performers. “But I also think people are - _ .. rgant/ers til the annual KW ‘We want to make it the first coming out of their shell. because “$0- , "t 0‘s?” f, - "‘ if? .. 0 Summer Latinlfest didn't international latinFest in Ontario." we‘ve never had a Latin Festival It" W) ' . ‘~ , f- §;’($> ’ kc ' 5» know what to expect when So why did she think the latin- that celebrates hispanic music and f i a), ‘ g ‘ j ,,3 f t, they brought the event toWaterIoo Fest connected with so many peo- hispanic culture.” ~ ;% , 73“ ' if f 91 public square last year, httt an esti~ ple last year, and what has The promise of lots of music ' . 3 ’ 79 \ mated crowd of 3.500 people heat prompted artists. vendors and and dancing is what got people ~ Hkhffi, - even their Wildest expectations. other purveyors of South American moving in the square last year. so ;. “I ast year was very unexpect» culture to beat a path to her door the festival is taking overlMllisWay ed." said Isabel (iisterna, artistic to get signed up for this year‘s to give people more room to director of Neruda Productions event? groove. and the driving force behind K-W - "It features everything from fla~ ‘ a latinlfest. “I had been doing a fes- i menco to tango. from salsa to tival in Kitchener tor many years, bachata. so it appeals to lots of ‘ ‘ and ll was wry nice. but we didn't ”fit? ‘3. people within the hispanic com- ‘ have consistent crowds over 2,000 ‘ .f ;. ”Fit-Ht munity and a lot of Canadians who ' people. love the culture.” said Cisterna. "So we decided to do a lilllll' , ,- "We wanted to do this for a long David Alvarez y Juego de Manes, from Cuba, are headlining this year's KW lost and give it a try. At its peak we Z ' " a. time so people had more vendors LatinFest. mom had 3,500 people." ' " and more things to see as ll. Now they're thinking even bigv ' “We also want to hm out ‘3. ’ ger. tlosing off Willis Way on lttly artists and craftspeople because » . r. lit tor more vendors, food choices. it's so rare that you have such a . ' ' 3 ‘ ‘ and international acts like Palo large crowd. We have people sell- 3 - H' ." ~ , r (Lru/a front (Lolumhia and David . ‘ t ‘ ingmfisjewelry, you name it." ' ' ' ‘. "a . 5 ‘ Alvarez y luego l)e Manos from a t, if, A lot of those Canadians have . g t s.\s y. ‘ ‘ (iuba to headlinethe show. ‘ - !' picked up their appreciation for v‘ Q If". & ‘, it . . 3 “last year we started very ‘ . ‘ -' the culture while vacationing in \\ ‘ } _ 1, f" ‘ “f f ;‘-$ humbly with Ontario artists and i \ E South America and the Caribbean. Jae \ .‘$, ‘ 32“ ' ' ’ 5" local artists." said (Iisterna. who . ’ i a» Cistema is surprised byhow many ' ‘\- “ , V ” ‘~ . was recently named a top-25 “the! Chm of those travellers bring a love of n ff \ Canadian Immigrants Award win the language and culture back to , ' s tier from the Royal Bank of Canada "I think people love the public Canada. ‘t for building the local community- square because it's very enclosed “A lot of people travel yearly to . \ based arts organization after mov- in a way and it's not spread out like Cuba and Mexico.“ said Cisterna. . a ‘ _ 4 f/ ing to Canada from Chile. “This a park.” said (Iisterna. “It also has “They miss it a little bit. and to be :__. .; »-â€"\ ;f’ a], . \ yearweve gone international. _ the amenities so that people can amongst people from those counâ€" Palo Cruzao is one of the most well-known urban joropo bands in (Asterna has dreatns of turning make a day out ofit. tries who are here. they can get Colombia. mm“, the local celebration of hispanic "I think people were still testing that zest for life." culture into the biggest Latin out the public square last year and The LatinFest program officially 4? music and cultural festival in the they found they really like it." kicks off Friday at the Button Fac- j E province, which she envisions will Latin culture is also a key tory with a free children's program " 1" $9. 5. have a steady stream of interna~ attraction and remains something from 5t08p.m. " A“ if tional artists performing on multi~ that continues to appeal to awide It will feature mask-making and , w plt- stages. She'd like to see it join audience, in addition to a strong a kids'concen. other maior festivals like the local Spanishâ€"speaking commune On Saturday. the main event llp'lown lau lestn'al and Waterloo ty. starts at 4 p.m. and goes until ll ‘ ‘V "* lluskert ,ilrll|\ili "Even though I thought it might p.m.. with local artist luneyt kick- ‘ - 4" "I think there is .t desire to grow have phased out. latin culture is ing offthe festivities. There isalsoa , ' this festival into a destination stop still pretty vibrant in people's Desvelada VIP afterâ€"party at The _. _ 4 a »i that people wrll mark on their cal? minds. Button Factory starting at ll p.m. " ‘ feiw 3? a endar for that year," said (Iisterna. "They love the music and the For a full list of performers and , v {aw “Other festivals are focused on the food and I don't think it's going events. visit nerudaproduc- ’ ‘l . folkloric aspect or the food, I want- away. I thought it was the lennifer tion.com. Guadalajara Mariachi, founded by Jorge Sanchez, offers a taste of Mexico. . _ a, ,. -v Hi" ' . a- EXHIBITION DATES ' ' - . ‘ ff?!” May 5 - September 30, 2012 .. l ““" l r j“: . , I FREE SPEAKER SERIES "‘"‘ -- i “ June 9.Juiy 14. August ll. 2012 l I '. u. . u " ‘ ,. ., . . ; , , 1 . , . f . .. HOMERWATSONONCA ."‘,\(,"‘\" i\i'.|‘. \(ti\(“ .. iif\i(‘l\i firi-flfl-l M,” I i t t M '. i i _ hot-dim ’ out-am mm m , - ‘» 1 -‘\'_.»J"1,fi:',_:..‘ or“. . PmIOI W m '