Que Pasa Festival a learning event

SLIDESHOW: Que Pasa Festival

Gloria Lindo traveled more than four hours by bus from Bath County with 10 of her Spanish students to immerse them in Latino culture yesterday at the eighth annual ¿Què Pasa? Festival of Virginia.

To learn a new language like Spanish, “you have to know about the culture. And this is a good opportunity for my students,“said Lindo, sitting outside a large tent where salsa music blared behind the Science Museum of Virginia.

New to this country, Lindo, a citizen of Colombia, said she will spend the next four years teaching Spanish to American teenagers. She has more than 100 students at Bath County High School near Hot Springs.

Hoping to win a $1,000 first prize, her excited pupils crafted an environmentally themed Piñata shaped like the Earth with plant roots growing menacingly from its surface (to symbolize the planet’s destruction). About 25 schools across Virginia entered the Piñata Expo contest—a first for the festival that celebrates the music, food, art and culture of Spanish-speaking people with ties to Virginia.

“When we do an event, we always want to bring education into it—and that’s why we do it at the Science Museum of Virginia,“said Michel Zajur, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Virginia, the festival’s sponsor.

Yesterday’s overcast skies and scattered sprinkles didn’t dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm or participation. Zajur said he expected attendance to double last year’s figure of 5,000 to 6,000.

In partnering with the Science Museum, organizers positioned translators in many of the museum’s galleries to create a “Spanish-friendly environment,“Zajur said. The goal, he added, is to encourage area Latinos to take in the museum and not just the festival

But there seemed to be a little something for everyone, regardless of their background. Many participants—black, white and Asian—swayed to a salsa beat as the dance ensemble Zumba for Families performed on the festival’s center stage. Others gobbled down authentic Latino cuisine supplied by more than a dozen food vendors.

“This festival kind of gives a chance for non-Hispanics to experience the Latino culture and to be a part of this dynamic community,“Zajur said. “At the same time, it gives the Latino community an opportunity for them to share their culture with the community at large.“

Joao C. da Rocha, a Brazilian pastor at Second Baptist Church on River Road, was helping oversee several tables stocked with food, drinks and other goods from his native country. New to the Richmond area, da Rocha seemed impressed with festival and its turnout.

“This is the first time I came here and I’m very excited,“said da Rocha, who moved here from Maryland about five months ago and has worked in the Brazilian Embassy in Washington. “I think this is very helpful for all of us. It’s a very educational and cultural” experience.

Just a few steps away, Belgicia Melendez and her young daughter happily took in the sights, sounds and smells—their first trip to the festival since moving to Chesterfield County about four years ago.

“I just wanted to see what it was all about,“Melendez said. “And being Latina, I wanted to know how the Latina community was coming out"for such an event. “It’s great to see everybody integrating. If we know each other better, we might be able to understand and respect each other a little more.“