No amount of rain could stop the 12th annual Cville Sabroso festival Saturday as throngs of festival-goers gathered in Ting Pavilion to sing along with headliner band La Maquina de El Salvador. Capping off nine hours of music and dance performances, the crowd of locals and visitors closed the festival with a remarkable gesture of solidarity, demonstrating the pride, resilience and joy of Charlottesville’s Latin American community.
The festival kicked off with bright skies and remarks from Albemarle and Charlottesville representatives. Cheers and laughter filled the venue as families sprawled across the lawn and perused the bountiful selection of food — tamales, elotes y esquites, paletas and more. University students also roamed the crowd, many serving as volunteers for Sin Barreras, the primary organizer of the event and Charlottesville-based nonprofit whose work focuses on empowering Central Virginia immigrants.
This year was Sin Barreras’s first time hosting Cville Sabroso at Ting Pavilion. As one of the largest venues in the festival’s history, the downtown space was chosen to accommodate this year’s expanded program. The venue allowed for two additional hours of live performances and twice as many artisan vendors, food choices and informational booths as last year.
The move to Ting Pavilion reflects Cville Sabroso’s significant growth in the past two decades. The idea of the festival originated in 2003 when local resident Fanny Smedile hosted a small gathering in the Church of Incarnation to honor Latin American culture. In 2012, Smedile co-founded Sin Barreras and hosted the first official Cville Sabroso at the McGuffey Art Center. Since then, the annual tradition has taken place at IX Art Park and Booker T. Washington Park, drawing larger crowds every year.
According to Diantha McKeel, vice-chair of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and representative of the Jack Jouett District, Cville Sabroso serves to unify local residents and recognize the Latin American community’s impact on Charlottesville.
“This event is really wonderful because it brings the Latino community and the citizens in the community together,” McKeel said. “[The Latin American community] gives to us, and we try to give back to them.”
Among more than 30 Latin American countries recognized Saturday, the festival’s 12-performance lineup specifically showcased the cultures of Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador. One performance featured music group Tahuantinsuyo, whose piercing flute — accompanied by a panpipe, drum, guitar and mandolin-like charango — brought the music of the Inca Empire to life. In another performance, Sociedad Cultural Tradiciones Bolivianas enraptured the audience with “Suri Sucuri,” a traditional Bolivian dance in which the performers emulated ostriches, swaying to Andean folk songs and letting their feathered headdresses catch the light.
The vibrant scene touched many festival-goers, particularly University students. Fourth-year College student Dana Jou Alban said Cville Sabroso felt like a piece of home to her. She explained how the event often has a special significance for Hispanic and Latin American students, as it offers a window into the wider Latin American community in Charlottesville.
“For a lot of Hispanic and Latino students, [Cville Sabroso] is a very big deal because we get to celebrate our culture with local community members. It's not just … the beautiful groups that we have at U.Va. — it's an open celebration,” Alban said.
Third-year Commerce student Joanna Contreras and second-year Data Science student Wissal Khlouf also attended the event as representatives of the University's Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority Incorporated. The two students volunteered in the festival’s “Kids’ Zone,” painting cultural flags and colorful designs on young visitors’ cheeks. Contreras emphasized the importance of reminding Latin American youth of their heritage.
“As generations go on, kids tend to lose that cultural connection,” Contreras said. “It's really important to tell them to represent their flags and enjoy cultural events like this.”
The celebration offered something to all visitors regardless of their familiarity with Latin American culture. Festival-goers sipped on Costa Rican coffee as they browsed jewelry, pottery and clothes. They also encountered a variety of sponsors tabling at the event, including the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights, Legal Aid Justice Center and the University Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Mariam Abdel Okhowa, Sin Barreras volunteer and third-year College student, explained how she worked in the festival’s planning committee months in advance to bring in sponsors from the Charlottesville community. She said the team at Sin Barreras wanted Cville Sabroso to be a resource as much as a celebration.
“We want our festival-goers to come and see something that they might be interested in [and] take something away from the festival,” Abdel Okhowa said. “It’s an opportunity for people to learn about different organizations in Charlottesville.”
A heartfelt display of cultural heritage, Cville Sabroso brought visibility to the traditions, art and cuisines of Charlottesville's Latin American community. Alban said she hopes visitors can look back at Cville Sabroso and remember the richness and vibrance that define Latin American culture.
“[I hope people see] how vibrant and friendly and loving we are, how beautiful our food is [and] how open … we are about our culture,” Alban said. “This festival is the best opportunity to see, truly, how we are.”
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