Latin Fest a hit with locals

A STUNNING autumn day set the scene at the Garden for the Future in White Hills last Saturday for an action-packed Bendigo Latin Festival 2025, with patrons treated to a diverse lineup of dancers, performers, food vendors and stallholders highlighting the best of what the Australian latino community has to offer.

Organised by Hispanos Unidos de Victoria (Hispanics United of Victoria) and supported by the Victorian Multicultural Commission, the City Of Greater Bendigo and the State Government, the first Festival was held in 2022 and has since gone from strength to strength.

The event made up part of the City’s Cultural Diversity Month Celebrations, which also included Holi – Festival of Colours at Golden Square Swimming Pool and the Festival of Friendships at the Dahlia and Arts Festival.

An early highlight was the performance by Los Amigos De La Cueca (Friends of the Cueca), a resplendently costumed dance group that showcases Chile’s national dance, the cueca.

The cueca is a unique dance performed using handkerchiefs (pañuelos) and mimics the courtship rituals of roosters and hens.

Next up on stage came the spectacular Mexbourne Dance Company – led by diminutive vocalist and folklore dancer Señorita Lex Avila – which presented a series of traditional Mexican songs and dances before joining the crowd for an improvised workshop.

Rounding up proceedings was Elemento One Salsa, a salsa and Latin rhythm dance group from Ballarat.

Also roaming the grounds during the afternoon was the highly-energised Diaspora Artistic Collective (Columbia), a Melbourne-based circus/dance/clown troupe.

Found among the stallholders was El Inca Crafts Jewellery, which handcrafts silver and wire jewellery using semi-precious stones, beads, exotic seeds, bamboo, bone and wood and is influenced by the cultural symbolism of Peru. Mexican artist Lizette Vieyra was also on hand.

Based in Melbourne, Ms Vieyra designs and makes sustainable art and jewellery based on the tradition and folklore of her homeland.

Following the festival proceedings, she was due to open her new collaborative exhibition with two other Mexican artists, Mexican Art Today (Latidos de México), a few short steps away at cafe-restaurant Omari.

The exhibition runs until Tuesday 15 July.