Guatemalans in Los Angeles will find a piece of home this weekend at Lafayette Park.
The neighborhood will play host to the 10th Annual Festival Chapín Los Angeles, celebrating Guatemalan art and culture. The free festival will spread across several city blocks in Westlake and go from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Amusement rides, marimba and many more artists will be performing, while event organizers promise a wide selection of traditional cuisine and other slices of Guatemala.
Last summer, the two-day festival was postponed due to the immigration raids in Los Angeles. This year the festival will highlight the municipality of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala’s main Caribbean Sea port. The event will feature a replica of the “La Tierra de Dios” arch that acts as the port city’s gateway to the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.
While the festival will seem familiar to the Guatemaltecos in Los Angeles, everyone is invited to the celebration, said Walter Rosales president of Chapín Summer Festival.
“We invite the entire community,” Rosales said. “The beautiful and important thing is that California is a melting pot of cultures, and sometimes a couple consists of a Mexican man and a Guatemalan woman, or a Guatemalan woman and a Salvadoran woman, and so on throughout the community.”
Because so many people connect over food, the event will feature a galaxy of Guatemalan foods including garnachas, Guatemalan-style hot dogs or shucos, chicken pepián, enchiladas, and hilachas or shredded beef stew and much more.
All of that is to say that the vibrancy of Guatemala will be on full display for anyone who attends, but will be especially familiar to anyone who may feel homesick for their motherland, Rosales said.
“Many of them haven’t been able to return to their homeland for years, and we’re committed to bringing them that little piece of Guatemala so they can feel at home and remember their roots,” he said.
This year, the ministry of economy in Guatemala is sponsoring 20 businesses to attend the festival and display their various products and crafts, including textile weaving following indigenous practices passed down over generations.
The official Marimba of the Chapín Festival Los Angeles will perform. Guatemalan-American artist Mari will also play her blend of pop, Latin and R&B music, while rock pioneers Radio Viejo are also set to perform.
Organizers recommend taking public transportation to the festival. Parking will be available at 611 Carondelet Street and cash or card are accepted.
