Calgary’s Latin festival has returned to a new location for three days, bringing music, food, dance, and culture from over 20 Latin countries–rain or shine.
Fiestaval, now in its 16th year, is typically held at Olympic Plaza, but with renovations ongoing, organizer Christian Greiffenstein says the city made the new Eau Claire Plaza available.
“It just opened, and it’s a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful park. It’s postcard worthy,” he told 660 NewsRadio.
“Actually, to us, it’s just a privilege to be using this space for Latin celebration.”
The redesigned plaza’s first event since opening in early July was Mexifest, a festival celebrating Mexican culture.
The move to Eau Claire comes as organizers hope to expand Fiestaval and offer a more spacious, flexible layout for performances, vendors, and crowds.
Rolling with the heavy rain, thunderstorms
Greiffenstein says the thunderstorm and heavy rainfall Friday night “was crazy,” and 35 volunteers helped cover stage equipment that would otherwise have been damaged.
However, he says the first day saw a good turnout of visitors before the rain.
“We have a great event happening here with a lot of vendors that have cooked a lot of food and put a lot of effort for many weeks to prepare for this festival,” Greiffenstein said.
He says while there were difficult moments on Friday, they were prepared for the weather because it’s rain or shine.
“This is Calgary,” Greiffenstein said. “We just push forward and ‘roll with the punches,’ like you guys say.”
Environment Canada says while it will be a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 21 C Saturday, there is a 60 per cent chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Fog is expected to form later in the evening.
Meanwhile, Greiffenstein says Eau Claire Plaza’s drainage system helped during the heavy rainfall, and it supports large events like Fiestaval, making it an ideal spot.
“It’s (Eau Claire Plaza) a rare place, you know–until the Olympic Plaza is ready and we can go back,” he said.
Fiestaval continues Saturday until 11 p.m. Sunday starts at 11 a.m. and finishes at 10 p.m. Calgarians and visitors alike can attend for free.
There are 30 food vendors, multiple music acts, and other activities, including Zumba classes at 11 a.m. and Salsa showcases throughout the day.
Greiffenstein says they are anticipating over 12,000 people to attend the 3-day event. The area contains a capacity for 3,000.
More information can be found online.
With files from Nadia Moharib