Lafayette Latino Festival uplifts traditions while immigration fears loom

As the closing musical acts performed, people huddled near the stage while rain poured down at Columbia Park in Lafayette.  

The 17th annual Tippecanoe Latino Festival brought in people from the community for a day of celebrating culture and building connections.

For Guillermo Morgado-Rodriguez, board president of the Latino Center of Wellness and Education, the event was about more than music and food.

“The intention for the festival is to come together as [a] community and celebrate and feel that warmth, that hug, you know, that brings you to your home country and reminds you of your traditions and your roots,” Morgado-Rodriguez said.

The nonprofit organized the five-hour event filled with music, food and art representing the diverse traditions of the countries participating. Local groups including Hanna Community Center, Bauer Family Resources and Habitat for Humanity attended sharing information about their organizations.

“Sometimes people don't feel comfortable going to those spaces,” Morgado-Rodriguez said. 

By bringing the organizations to the Latino Festival, he hopes more people will connect with the services they need but might not otherwise go to.

This year’s festival in Lafayette comes at a time when stepped-up immigration detainments have led other Latino festivals in Indiana and across the country to cancel due to safety concerns.

Last month, the annual FIESTA Indianapolis was canceled. Organizers said the decision was to keep people safe.

Days ago, the South Dakota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce cancelled a festival and a parade scheduled for Sioux Falls.

Lafayette organizers said cancellation wasn’t an option, after sponsors had already contributed and visas were secured for Banda Filarmónica Vientos Regionales of Oaxaca, Mexico, a two-year process.

“It was also a way of, you know, here we are right, regardless of what might be going around, we are still showing up and being resilient and still celebrating our roots and in our heritage,” Morgado-Rodriguez said.

Despite fears, he said there is hope for the future — and preparations are already underway for the 2026 festival, with the date and location set.

Contact WFYI All Things Considered newscaster and reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org or on Signal at SamHorton.05