Alan Scaia
Oct 13, 2022
(Video interview in original news page)
Sunday, the city will host "Celebra Grapevine" at Peace Circle near S. Main St and Dallas Rd. Celebra means, "to celebrate," in Spanish.
"It is an all around wonderful and sharing platform, which is what we want Celebra Grapevine to be," says Yvette Lopez, who founded Latinos in Grapevine last year.
The event runs from 3 to 6 p.m. and will include music by Mariachi Pura Sangre, Sofía Peña, and Fusión Latina. Celebra Grapevine will also have food and dancing. A group of folkloric dancers will perform along with dance troupes from Timberline and Silver Lake Elementary Schools. A Peruvian dance academy will lead a "flash mob."
"Hopefully, we can get a lot of individuals to join," Lopez says. "The program is really set up for representation of Latin communities here in Grapevine that are most represented."
She says up to 40% of Grapevine's population is Latino with communities from Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela and Puerto Rico among the largest. Lopez says Celebra Grapevine will have selfie stations set up to represent each community.
"Even though we speak the same language, the cultures are very different," she says.
Lopez says the different music and information provided at selfie stations can help people moving to Texas learn about different cultures of people who live here but also help the children of immigrants learn about their own background.
"That younger generation is consuming food, listening to music, but they don't necessarily understand the history behind it or why we do some of the things we do," she says.