¡Celebremos!

Festival Americas is back for its fourth year

Rodrigo Rojas is excited about the forthcoming Festival Americas (Sept. 22–23).

Two aspects of the festival—which he founded four years ago and which expands from one to two days this year—especially animate him: acquiring a performance by La Santa Cecilia, the Grammy-winning band from Los Angeles, and providing college scholarships to local high school students.

La Santa Cecilia is a Mexican-American band that plays a blend of genres including cumbia, bossa nova, and boleros. The group won their Grammy for Best Latin Rock Album in 2014.

The festival also raises money for college scholarships that are awarded to high school students based on academic achievement, community service, and a submitted essay. Out of thirty applicants this year, two will be awarded a $2500 scholarship at a special ceremony during the festival.

“Our ambition,” Rojas said, “is to celebrate the culture and also to inspire the next generation of leaders of this growing community.”

Other highlights will include a vendor market with art and crafts for purchase, an interactive “kid zone,” Salsa dance lessons, a tequila garden, and a variety of food flavors from across the Americas.

There will also be an array of what Rojas described as “community vendors.” Among these will be voter registration booths, The Coalition for the American Dream, Tulsa Community College Hispanic Student Association, the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Domestic Violence Intervention Services, and others.

“We want to provide an inclusive environment that welcomes everybody on that day,” Rojas said.

This is especially important given that this year’s festival comes just after the announced rollback of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Asked about DACA, Rojas was optimistic.

“The hope is that Congress will come together to pass some sort of permanent solution and give the young people who only know the U.S.—or Tulsa—a chance to realize their full potential,” he said.

He pointed out that there are nearly seven thousand individuals in Oklahoma who would be negatively affected if DACA remains scuttled and that another ten thousand young people could potentially qualify for DACA status in coming years if the original guidelines are not overturned.

“DACA recipients contribute to our economy—seventeen and a half million dollars per year in state and local taxes,” Rojas said. “Oklahoma would lose a lot of money if DACA is rescinded.”

Festival Americas occurs during Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins each year on September 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile, and Belize also celebrate their independence during this period.

“In local industry and schools,” Rojas said, “there’s a great number of people from the Americas. So the festival represents a piece of their culture, of having some way to honor their heritage on that day.”

Festival Americas
Friday, September 22, 6–9 p.m. and Saturday, September 23, 2–10 p.m.
Guthrie Green
111 E. M.B. Brady St.