From dance lessons to storytelling, free activities and events in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month will be held across Arlington starting next week.
The festivities kick off with the county’s third annual Hispanic Heritage Community Festival from 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 at Tyrol Hill Park at 5101 7th Road S. The family-friendly festival will include music, snacks and opportunities to connect with county staff and leaders.
Games of lotería — a game of chance similar to bingo — will be happening at a teen hangout for grades 6-12 at Courthouse Library from 4-5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Other lotería events will take place at Aurora Hills Library on Thursday, Sept. 19 and at Shirlington Library on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Additional kids’ activities include a film screening of “Coco” at the Shirlington Branch Library on Oct. 3 and a story time with National Park Service rangers at the Columbia Pike Library on Oct. 5. The rangers will read “Drum Dream Girl” and complete a craft with the kids.
At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, the community is invited to Pupusas with the Police and Sheriff at Sofia’s Pupuseria on Columbia Pike. Spanish-speaking police officers will be present as well as representatives from PathForward and Doorways.
For a little rhythm, the Arlington Public Library, in collaboration with the Encanto Dance Team, will also host weekly beginner-level Latin dance classes starting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10 outside Glencarlyn Library.
Dancers of all experience levels are also welcome to the county’s Latin Dance Party, where they can learn the basics of salsa, merengue, cumbia and bachata. The event will go from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in the Arlington Mill Community Center at 909 S. Dinwiddie Street.
Later that day, the county’s annual Festival Latinoamericano will kick off at 5 p.m. in the same location. The free festival welcomes hundreds each year and includes live music and dance, local vendors, kids entertainment and food.
National Hispanic Heritage Month takes place from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, a timeframe that includes the independence days of several Central American countries. These are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chile and Belize.
