The group San Simon Virginia USA perform a Bolivian dance called "Corporales" at the Hispanic Heritage Festival at NOVA's Annandale campus on Sept. 22.

On Sept. 22, the Hispanic Student Union (HSU) of Northern Virginia Community College’s Annandale campus kicked off the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, with the Hispanic Heritage Festival. A large stage was set up on the CE Forum that served as a platform that day for numerous performances. The festival began with a showcasing flags of the various Latin American countries along with a short description of each country and its location around the world.

Throughout the day, students around the campus were able to participate in games and dancing. A former NOVA student and HSU member, Jenny Osorio, returned to give students a free Zumba lesson, an aerobic fitness routine inspired by Latin dance. Despite the overwhelming heat (above 90 degrees Fahrenheit) on that September day, the festival attracted a large number of students of different ethnicities and races who gathered in front of the stage and danced along.

A salsa number was performed by members of HSU, and food was offered. There was also a Bolivian folkloric dance performed by the “Caporales San Simon of USA.”

Richard Bautista, the advisor for HSU and a system analyst at NOVA, was present to help the members run the festival smoothly. He said the Hispanic Student Union had been planning the festival for four months and he hoped that it would help educate the students at the college about the Hispanic heritage and its vastness.

“We’re trying to show NOVA students that we have different cultures and that we are very diverse (as Latin Americans),” he continued. “Don’t outcast us as just a mariachi playing group.”

Mariachi is a group or band of street musicians, originally of Mexico, whose members play guitars and wear sombreros.

Bautista also said that the purpose of having the festival was to bring all the students together, especially the Hispanic ones, because there is a segregation even between those Hispanic students that were raised in the United States and those who have only been in this country for two or three years and are beginning to learn how to speak English and adapt to the culture here.

Wednesday was the kick-off for HSU’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Other events will follow to commemorate this special month, such as guest speaker Rosalia Fajardo, who is coming on Sept. 28.The final event will be Cultural Day on Oct. 13.

By: Ana Guerra

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