INDIANAPOLIS — Indy’s premier Hispanic Heritage Month event, FIESTA Indianapolis, is canceled after over 40 years.
La Plaza, the oldest and largest Latino nonprofit organization in Indiana and the event organizer, said changes were made “out of an abundance of caution and a deep commitment to the well-being for the community.”
“It makes me really sad and upset that we used to have these celebrations that we could be authentically ourselves and mingle with other people of our identity. That’s being taken away,” longtime attendee Carlota Holder said.
Carlota Holder
Holder is a proud Panamanian-American.
Since she was a little girl, FIESTA Indianapolis was an annual celebration of that identity.
“For there to be so much fear for this event to be canceled now, it’s just, I think it makes it more real about the events that are happening,” Holder said.
Hoosiers who spoke with WRTV say many Latinos are concerned about immigration enforcement in our state.
Last Month, WRTV spoke to Governor Mike Braun about ICE cooperation in our state.
Gov. Braun has said those efforts are focused on people in the country illegally who have committed crimes.
“Here in our state, we’re going to do what I said I’d do. From the get-go, the worst first and going after ones that broke the law once they came into the country illegally, and that’s to the extent I’m going to be willing to help,” Braun said.
But Principal Stephanie Campos sees the effect increased anti-immigrant rhetoric has on the students she serves.
Stephanie Campos
“We saw a significant drop in attendance at our school. We’ve always had 95% attendance or higher every single day, and we had dropped to 43%,” Campos said.
Campos works at a charter school on Indy’s west side that serves predominantly Latino, multilingual learners.
She says they’ve had to take more precautions to ensure student safety.
“We have a safety team. The safety team has a door, we have a radio…We are just being very vigilant. If you’re not identified as a parent or an organization that we partner with. I’m sorry, this event is closed for you,” she said.
Fears around immigration enforcement are also impacting nightlife.
“There’s been more officers out, ICE agents out, creating fear of instead of going to enjoy a drink and have a good time, now it’s like ‘do I wanna risk a chance of being [kicked] out of here?’” DJ Julio Rolon said.
DJ Rican
Rolon also goes by “DJ Rican” and works at popular nightclubs like Estereo.
He says events geared towards the Latino community are seeing less attendance.
“It hurts our pockets, that hurts revenue in the business,” Rolon said.
Rolon has also attended FIESTA since he was a kid, and has even DJ’ed the event in the past.
He hopes the celebration can resume next year.
“I hope it’s only this setback today and next year it can come back,” he said.
La Plaza stated that it remains committed to celebrating Hispanic Heritage in Central Indiana. The organization is partnering with Univision during Hispanic Heritage Month to showcase and celebrate local leaders, small businesses, and other entities that represent the community.
“While we are not gathering in the traditional way this year, we believe reshaping the event is the most responsible course of action to ensure the health and safety of our families, vendors, and supporters,” La Plaza stated.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
