ST PAUL, Minn. — 'Fiesta Latina' an event hosted by CLUES, the biggest Latino-led nonprofit in the state, kicked off both Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day.
It was a party for the community that offered food, resources, job fairs and art.
Two booths featured linoleum block prints.
"It's traditional for many Latino artists and everywhere in the world because it's a nice way to replicate any of your designs and they each turn out unique," a CLUES volunteer said.
People also had the opportunity to get hands-on experience with soap carving.
"When my mom or my family would go and wash in the river, this is the soap that we would use," the artist said. "And even at the riverside I'd just sit down and my mom would give me a little piece of soap, and I'd just go at it, so I turned it into something I can share."
That generosity makes Fiesta Latina a true bonder of people.
"Hispanic Heritage Month to me means knowing that our community means knowing that our community lives everywhere," David Soto, CLUES' associate director of economic stability said.
"We connect with a lot of our roots, so it's really important to be here around people," another CLUES volunteer said. "That is like from your country or Latin America. So you can like see the food from your country, see different culture around."
"It's important to have a time and space to honor culture, traditions, to be with our community," the soap artist said.
The event is expected to draw over 3,000 attendees. National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated until October 15th.
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