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Baila Con Dover is returning later this month, once again bringing thousands of people to Legislative Hall in Dover for a day of live music, cultural performances, food and family activities that organizers hope will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations across Delaware.
The festival is organized by HOLA, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Americans, a Dover-based nonprofit founded to connect and support Latino communities in Kent County.
For HOLA founder Anthony Velazquez, the organization began years before it became an official nonprofit. While serving in the military at Dover Air Force Base, he noticed there were few opportunities for Latino service members and their families to celebrate their respective cultures or connect with one another.
So he decided to organize small cultural events on base himself, bringing together music, food and traditions from across Latin America to create what he called “a little piece of home.”
“There wasn’t a whole lot on base that had other events and other stuff, but nothing for Latinos,” Velazquez said. “And the same thing I saw off base. All the resources were more north Wilmington and south Georgetown.”
After retiring from the Air Force, Velazquez brought that same initiative into the broader Dover community. HOLA officially became a Delaware nonprofit in 2022, with the goal of serving Latino families in his local community while helping bridge what he describes as a long-overlooked gap between Wilmington and Sussex counties.
“I’m trying to bridge the gap between the north and the south,” he said. “It feels like the center of Delaware has been forgotten, especially for the Latino community. Now it’s growing.”
Baila Con Dover became HOLA’s first signature event in 2023, drawing roughly 1,500 attendees during its inaugural festival. Attendance grew to about 2,000 the following year. This year’s festival comes after Velazquez said organizers saw attendance level off amid heightened immigration enforcement and concerns within the Latino community.
Still, he said the festival continues to grow each year by adding new attractions.
This year’s celebration begins in the morning with Zumba and a vendor marketplace, before transitioning into cultural performances from 1 to 4 p.m. The afternoon will also feature a car show, while the evening will shift to a concert, featuring groups performing bomba and plena, salsa and merengue, with local and Puerto Rican artists.
