Sponsored by the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County, the festival drew musicians, food vendors, dancers and artists from across Utah to share their culture June 12-15.
Mexican artist Graciela Caro said the festival is a place that takes care of artists, giving them booth space at minimal costs.
“When you go to a festival, if there are no artists, there’s no festival,” said Caro. “And sometimes as artists we don’t make that much money when we come to festivals, and sometimes we need to pay a lot of money for the booth. And it’s nice that here in Park City they take care of you in that way.”
Caro is from Mexico City. She came to the festival as a visitor last year and said she noticed that it was a place where her sculptural art could be appreciated by the community, which is what brought her here as a vendor this year.
The second and third days of the Latino Arts Festival were organized by individual hispanic regions. Friday was focused on Brazil while Saturday was focused on Spanish speaking countries in Latin America.
Artists included musicians, dancers, painters and clothing makers, many of whom provided families an opportunity to try their hand at making traditional art forms.
New this year was “El Mercadito” — The Market in English — an indoor space for artists meant to resemble a traditional Latino market.
That’s where Caro showed off the sugar skulls she makes for use during the annual observance of the Day of the Dead.
Made out of a special sugar called alfeñique, the skulls are shaped out of sugar and put on the graves of loved ones.
They represent that while life is impermanent, souls never die.
This year, Caro made the sugar skulls in June to sell at the Latino Arts Festival because they support her culture and her art.
“It’s amazing. I love how they take care of their artists,” said Caro. “It’s just joyful, and colorful and a lot of vendors, and a lot of good food out there, and the dances and the music are just great.”
The free festival will wrap Sunday with a mix of Zumba, dance performances and music from all of the represented cultures.
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