Bold roots show proudly at Columbia’s Latin Festival

You know what they say – The rhythm is gonna get you.

It got Jazmin Montesino and Karla Quiñones on Saturday afternoon as they shook their hips and twirled their bodies to the sounds of salsa and merengue at the annual Main Street Latin Festival.

Of course, the rhythm is in their blood – Montesino is Dominican, and Quiñones is Puerto Rican.

Stationed at the Army’s Fort Jackson in Columbia for the past month, Montesino said being at the festival was the first time she has felt a part of a Hispanic community since moving to Columbia.

“When you’re new in a place, you like to connect with your people,” she said. “We love our culture. We love our food. We love our music. Every time we see people from the places we come from, we feel like home.”

Organizers expected some 15,000 to 17,000 people to attend Saturday’s festival, which proves each year to be one of the city’s most popular events.

Proud Latin American culture oozed from every shimmying body that filled the downtown sidewalks, even from those without Latin heritage, such as Nita Lopez.

While she donned a loud Puerto Rico tank, Lopez owes all of her Latin American cultural knowledge – and dance moves – to her wife, Brenda Lopez, who moved to Columbia a decade ago “looking for a better future” and “to become somebody.”

But Brenda Lopez still “represent(s) Puerto Rico 24/7,” she said.

And as her wife has learned, representing Puerto Rican culture means “they’re just free spirited,” Nita Lopez said. “They just don’t care about anybody else’s opinions. They just love life and love to live.”

Camille Faulkner and her cousin, Crystal Diaz, said they hope that young Latin Americans do not forget their roots.

The 20-somethings are part of the first generation of their family to be born in the United States after their grandparents immigrated from the Dominican Republic with their children, who all went on to start their own businesses in the United States.

“I’m proud to be Dominican, but I’m also proud to be here in America,” Faulkner said. “I’m happy that a lot of the younger people are – I’m getting emotional, sorry – I’m happy to see them striving to do better than where our grandparents came from.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 5:26 PM.