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Church brings unique celebration to Minot

By HANNAH VELASQUEZ 3 min read

Eagles Wings church held its inaugural Latin Fest celebration on Saturday, Sept. 19. to share and appreciate Latin American culture with the community during Hispanic Heritage Month.

“It’s exciting because they will get to know us a little bit, our culture, what we do, what we eat and everything,” Gabriella Nunez, a volunteer at the church said.

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and recognizes the history, culture and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans.

During the ribbon cutting, Worship Pastors and Spanish-speaking Service Directors, David and Priscila Espinoza expressed their hope to continue Latin Fest beyond this year.

“We are so happy to host the first Latin Fest ever in the city of Minot,” Priscila Espinoza said. “Latin Fest is a celebration of culture, music, dancing and everything that represents us. We want to invite all the community in the city. Everybody is welcome here. You don’t have to be Latino, we wanna welcome everybody to come and celebrate Hispanic Heritage month with us.”

The event included vendors representing Chile, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Each vendor sold a variety of cultural foods such as pastries, birria, empanadas, coffee, tres leches and aguas frescas.

Genesys Gil, owner of Tasty Cookies, said Minot is home and the opportunity to celebrate her roots from Venezuela and share her culture with the community is exciting.

“It’s awesome because this is home. Minot is home, but my roots are in Venezuela,” Gil said. “It’s to show our culture and to be apart of the first Latin Fest in Minot is a great thing. I’m really happy to be here.”

The Rinat Mouzafarov Institute of Dance and Ballet Theater performed cultural dances throughout the day such as the Flamenco by Ali Haas, and choreographed inspired numbers to popular Spanish-speaking songs.

The event also included games, a giveaway, vendor/food spotlights and a live DJ. Despite the rainy weather, families, children and volunteers were dancing to the music while welcoming guests and inviting them to join in on the celebration.

Phyllis Burckhard, Minot Area Chamber EDC Ambassador and director of Sales at Staybridge Suites, said cultural celebrations, particularly Lain Fest, are an important part of the Minot community.

“I think that they are such an important part of our community and I’m so pleased that they have this event going on,” Burckhard said. “This is huge – lots of entertainment and opportunities to taste their wonderful food and see their products.”

The Espinozas said they hope people can takeaway how grateful Latino Americans are for this country by sharing their cultural pride and love with their communities. Priscila Espinoza said they want Latinos to feel at home while welcoming anyone else who may be visiting the church and a Latin event for the first time.

“My hope is that they know we are blessed for this country,” David Espinoza said. “That you can be proud of your culture, but also thankful for the land that you’re on.”

“If you’re not Latino, you can come in, taste our food and we have games for the whole family,” Priscila Espinoza said. “We want to invite you to this festival and maybe if you are Latino, you feel home here. This is all about celebrating our roots and our language. Everyone is welcome.”

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