TYLER, TX (EAST TEXAS NEWS) – This weekend a major event will be held for the first time to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in Longview.
More than 29 years ago, Arturo Zapata Jr. brought a festival to East Texas to celebrate the Hispanic community. At that time he recalls that, although he knew there was a large Latino community in the area, there were no festivals or places where people gathered.
“That’s when people started coming out of the woods, from other towns, and the second Cinco de Mayo grew very nicely; by the third year it was wonderful to see the community growing,” Zapata recalls.
His mother, born in Morelia, Michoacán, instilled some Mexican customs in him, but it was when he met his Zacatecan wife that he fell even more in love with the culture.
On a visit to her homeland, Zapata adopted the word “paisanos,” and that is where the name of his organization “Paisanos of East Texas” was born in the year 2000.
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An organization focused on the development of Hispanic youth.
After several years of successful festivals, awarding scholarships, giving away turkeys, toy drives—and like many other things, COVID put a pause to it all.
It wasn’t until recently that his son convinced him to bring back a festival for the community, now not only for Hispanics but to bring together all cultures.
“He gave me ideas, and he was the one who started it; we’re going to create a festival of different cultures, so that’s our dream. When you enter a street—let’s say it’s China Street—when you walk in you’ll feel like you’re in Chinatown, you’ll smell the food, you’ll see the sights, you’ll hear the music and you’ll have fun, and you’ll even get to try Chinese food.”
The first East Texas Cultures Festival will take place on October 11 and 12 at Heritage Plaza in downtown Longview from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
In this free event there will be food and fun for the whole family.
On Sunday, the group “La Energia Nortena” will perform on the stage.
For more information you can visit their Facebook page, Paisanos of East Texas.
