For the next three days, residents around the 400 block of South Duke Street can expect nights filled with salsa music, carefree dancing and a celebration of Hispanic culture.
Judy Ortega urges customers to try her pinchos, a popular pork kabob from
Puerto Rico, at the Hispani
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The 25th annual Hispanic Cultural Festival kicked off Wednesday night at San Juan Bautista Catholic Church, 425 S. Duke St.
"The first year of the festival, it was held in the church's cafeteria, and we just had Puerto Rican food and a raffle," said the Rev. Allan Wolfe, church pastor.
"Now it's a four-day event with several thousand people coming throughout the weekend."
With the expansion of the festival this year to four days, more Hispanic cultural groups have been able to showcase their traditions.
"There are 20 Hispanic nations, and 16 are represented at San Juan Bautista," Wolfe said. "Most of us are Puerto Rican, but there are many here from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and so on."
Nowhere is this diversity more apparent than at the festival's food stands.
Traditional tastes from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico are cooked by parish members with those national backgrounds.
Otilia Lopez, a West Lampeter Township resident, has been a member of San Juan Bautista parish for 40 years, and she has been making empanadas, a tasty stuffed pastry, at the Colombian food stand as long as it's been part of the festival.
She said the event gets better every year because of the mixture of cultures, including the food choices.
"I like to try all different kinds of food," she said. "The more the better!"
While most festival-goers say all the food selections are just as good, Lancaster resident Elisa Sanchez, born in Salinas, Puerto Rico, had no problem praising the Puerto Rican stand.
"We have the pinchos (pork shish kabobs) and pasteles (cakes)," Sanchez said. "Pasteles! It gets no better than that!"
As with the food choices, entertainment at the festival has grown throughout the years.
Professional mariachi, bachata and salsa bands will take the stage through Saturday to get the audience dancing. Also on Saturday, the event's annual raffle will conclude with the giveaway of a 2008 Honda Civic.
Entertainment for kids has also expanded this year, as more space has been provided for amusement-park-type rides.
Henry Erazo, 35, of Leola, came to the festival with his wife, Sheny, and two sons, Henry Jr., 7, and Fabricio, 2.
"The kids loved the rides. They went on all of them," Erazo said.
Face painting also entertains children.
Admission to the festival is free and parking is available on the street and at Plaza San Juan Bautista on South Duke Street.
The festival runs from 6 to 10 tonight, 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday.
Staff writer Dan Rorabaugh can be reached at drorabaugh@LNPnews.com or 481-6028.
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