SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. — Siloam Springs held their third annual Hispanic Heritage Festival at Memorial Park on Saturday.
According to the city, the festival looks to celebrate the rich histories, cultures, and contributions made by Hispanic residents that live in Northwest Arkansas.
"It's one of the coolest things,” Sales Coordinator for Arvest Bank Pablo Sanchez said. “The booths are incredible, the food's amazing, but what’s most special is you get to learn a lot about your neighbors. You get to learn something new. And I think we all get better whenever we learn more about our neighbors."
Arvest Bank was a sponsor of the event. Sanchez Arvest representatives at the event were available to provide financial education in English and Spanish through their EmpowerED financial literacy program.
In addition, the festival included live music, dancing, good food, and lots of fun.
“I think it's really important to have a place where we can come together and share our culture and bring other people and kind of introduce them to our people,” Emily Beltran said.
Beltran and her family own a food service company called Sabor Autèntico. She said they homemade flavored waters as well as chicharrónes. She added that as of now, they usually serve at events, but she is hoping to start a catering company soon.
She added that this was her family’s second time at the festival, and she said it gets bigger every year.
“Our Hispanic culture is growing in Northwest Arkansas, and I think it's just super cool that we could set up something like this and just invite everyone to come in to show who we are,” Daniel Escalona said. “I think it builds the community.”
Escalona was born and raised in Rogers and decided to sell fruit at the festival with the help of his family and friends. He said that he did not own a catering company, but just decided to put up this booth to support his community.
Escalona added that he works a full-time job for Eddyline Kayak’s and has a connection to his ancestors’ hometown near Mexico City.
“We manufacture performance, lightweight kayaks, and we actually manufacture them about an hour north of where my family's from in Mexico City and headquartered here in Salem Springs Arkansas,” Escalon said. “It's super cool how I'm connected.”
Escalona said being connected to his family’s Hispanic heritage is something that is deeply important to him.
"Being able to be connected to your family, family values, and where you come from is the root of your being,” Escalona said. “I think it's super important for everyone to be connected to where they're from, their roots, their traditions, and their family overall."
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