The Festival del Guiverno, hosted by the OLAS club at the Community Commons on Friday, Sep. 19, celebrated Latino culture and the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The festival, which began in 2024, was primarily planned by Upper School Mental Health Counselor and Leader of the Organization of Latino American Students (OLAS) club, Ms. Velez.
The Festival served as an event for Hispanic students and families to come together and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, attracting over 100 people. Ms. Velez shared the impact of the event. “For me, it was feeling like home, when you’re around all these kinds of people that are like you,” she said.
Hispanic students, teachers, and Ms Velez helped plan this year’s celebration. They accomplished this by meeting together as a group before the festival and dividing tasks, such as who would contact different restaurants to arrange donations, who would find a DJ, and who would discuss the event during assemblies.
This year, the celebration was held outside the brand-new Community Commons, decorated with tables of food, banners featuring different Hispanic flags, games like Connect 4 and cornhole, and a piñata to liven up the space.
The party was filled with tables featuring a variety of Hispanic dishes. For the festival, four restaurants donated. Cora Cora brought Peruvian chicken and rice, Coyote Flaco donated burritos and taquitos, Bar Taco shared chips, guacamole, and salsa, and finally Humacao Latin Lounge donated pernil (pork shoulder). In addition to this food, some families came together to donate unique foods and drinks representative of their own cultures. Families donated a variety of rich cuisines, including Colombian empanadas, sweet plantains, guava cupcakes, cheese bread, and birria tacos.
Students and faculty both shared the same idea of connection for the festival. “It was a good representation of our culture and important to highlight the cultures we have on campus,” said senior Samaria Gonzalez, who is a part of the OLAS club. She, as well as seniors Leilani Moyano and Sofia Atanasio-Villa, were key members in planning and creating the festival.
History Department Chair David Baker came with his family and said he values events like these because they bring the community together outside of academic settings. “I’m a big believer that our differences actually make us stronger, and getting to know one another and celebrating those together leads to a more fulfilling and unified life,” he said. He brought Callan and Andrew, sharing with them what he hoped they would gain from the event. “Exposing my kids to other cultures and making them realize there’s a lot more out there,” he shared.
Looking ahead to next year, Mr. Baker proposed reviving the dance lessons that were part of the last festival. Both Samaria and Mr. Baker suggested that having the festival on a separate day, rather than alongside other school events like sports games, would allow the celebration to stand on its own and give everyone time to enjoy it, as these events negatively affected attendance at the event.
The Festival del Guiverno brought together families, students, faculty, and staff from many backgrounds. The event highlighted the learning about one another and celebrating culture as a community.
