A festival to celebrate Latin culture and traditions will spice up Prince George later this month.
The Latino-Canadian Association of Northern B.C. is presenting the fourth Viva Lo Caliente Festival, starting April 28, and everyone is welcome to join in the annual celebration.
"For the first two years we only had our Latin Dance Party and then we decided to expand it last year to a week-long event," said one of the organizers, Giulliana Tamblyn, originally from Peru. "Last year more than 200 people attended the dance. It's quite popular with the Latino community and the non-Latino community, who like to enjoy Latin culture."
The main event is the Latin Dance Party that will be held at the Hart Community Centre this year.
"We start with dinner and we have some performances," said Tamblyn, who moved to Prince George from Toronto seven years ago with husband Dave and they have two boys Andrew, nine, and Joshua, six. "We've got a band from Vancouver, Marlin
Ramazzini, coming to add a few dance notes to the show. In our culture when we have a party we all dress up in suits and cocktail dresses but everyone is welcome to wear whatever they are most comfortable in because we tend to dance all night at our event."
There will be a Zumba performance and the all-important salsa lesson to help get beginners started, Tamblyn added.
"This festival is a great way to integrate Canadian and Latin heritages in the community," she said. "We would like to invite everyone to attend the Viva Lo Caliente festival to enjoy some Latin culture."
The festival schedule
Sunday, April 28
Spring Cleanup
10 a.m. at Antler Park, 1253 Bowron Crescent
Monday, April 29
Talk and discussion: Is Resource Extraction a Curse or a Bonanza for Local Communities? Mining Case Study: Peru
Guest speaker: Giulliana Tamblyn, UNBC MA
International Studies candidate
7:30 p.m. at Caf Voltaire, Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave.
Admission is free.
Wednesday, May 1
Film: Latin Music, Divas &
Superstars
This documentary explores the recent Latin Pop explosion and the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in the English-language market.
6 p.m. at the Prince George Public Library. Admission is free.
Friday, May 3
Latino Kids' Corner
Preschool children and parents of all backgrounds are invited for cultural fun, story time and activities all in Spanish, 11 a.m. to noon Prince George
Public Library. Admission is free.
Friday, May 3
Latin Dance Party
Join us for a night of Latin-American culture, cuisine, live music and entertainment, including Marlin Ramazzini and her band from Vancouver.
7:30 p.m. at the Hart Community Centre
Tickets are $40 at Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave. For more information call 250-962-5054 or e-mail [email protected] or visit www.latinpg.com.
