The Yale Peabody Museum and Junta for Progressive Action will host ¡Fiesta Latina!, a celebration of Hispanic cultures that features music and other community events.
The celebration will take place September 26 and 27. Junta for Progressive Action will host programming at 169 Grand Avenue, New Haven from noon to 5 pm on Saturday, September 26. There will be a day of performances held at the Peabody Museum, located at 170 Whitney Avenue, on Sunday, September 27 from noon to 5 pm. Programs will be free, community-led, and accessible to participants of all ages.
The event is a collaboration between the Peabody Museum and Junta for Progressive Action. Support for Fiesta Latina is provided by the Fidelity CHET 529 College Savings Program, by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, and by the Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies at the Yale MacMillan Center.
The festival continues to be one of the Peabody Museum’s signature events, with thousands of people attending the electric celebration since its reopening in 2024. “Our goal is to celebrate Hispanic culture through community programming and through sharing objects from the Peabody’s collections about those cultures,” said Peabody Museum director David Skelly.
“We're very excited to be working with Junta to plan another celebration of Hispanic cultures that are represented here in New Haven and the broader community. We hope to foster connection and solidarity through education, performance, storytelling, and hands-on cultural activities,” said Janae McMillan, the Peabody’s Lead Educator for Family Engagement & Youth Employment, Education.
For Junta, Fiesta Latina is more than a festival. It reflects the organization’s mission to uplift and empower the Hispanic and immigrant families of Greater New Haven. “Together with the Yale Peabody Museum, we are proud to celebrate our culture while opening doors to education, opportunity, and a brighter future for the next generation,” said Frederic De Pourcq, Director of Development & Operation for Junta.
The festivities at the Peabody will begin at noon on September 27 with a performance by the Spanish Community of Wallingford’s youth mariachi band and dance troupe, an organization committed to preserving the cultural heritage of Mexico, at noon. Proyecto Cimmaron, a Puerto Rican Bomba music and dance performance group, will perform at 1:30 pm. The show will conclude with Orquesta Afinke, a salsa band based in Stratford, CT, performing at 3:00 pm.
Yale professors Janitza Montalvo-Ortiz and Marynel Vázquez, scientists at the Wu Tsai Institute’s Center for Neurocomputation and Machine Intelligence, will be on hand to speak on their areas of research. Montalvo-Ortiz specializes in neuropsychiatric disorders, and will speak at 1 pm. Vazquez studies human-robot interactions and will give a talk at 4 pm. Spanish-speaking scientists will be on hand throughout the museum to talk about how their research contributes to a deeper understanding of the world around us.
In addition, Spanish-language family workshops will take place throughout the day, offering parents and children ages 5 to 10 an opportunity for STEM games and activities. Storytelling performances will take place throughout the afternoon starting at 2 pm.
Food will be available for purchase from the Cinco de Mayo and El Taco Dorado food trucks.
For more information about the Yale Peabody Museum, visit Peabody.yale.edu. For more information about Junta for Progressive Action, visit juntainc.org.
SEPTEMBER 27 MUSICAL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
12:00-1:00 pm- Spanish Community of Wallingford Youth Mariachi Band and Dancers
1:30-2:15 pm- Proyecto Cimarron
3:00-5:00 pm- Orquesta Afinke
PERFORMER BIOS
The Spanish Community of Wallingford (SCOW)
At SCOW, community is our strength. SCOW supports the Wallingford community with programs exemplifying our core values: guidance, education, and sharing.
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Our social service referrals guide people to find the services offered to everyone in the Wallingford community.
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Our educational programs help children take full advantage of their educational opportunities and help adults gain the confidence to fully participate in U.S. society.
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Our music and dance programs enable all Latinos to share the rich and varied cultures of their native countries, adding to the mosaic of American culture. Conversely, these programs help the children of the Hispanic community to retain the cultural heritage their parents brought with them.
Proyecto Cimarron is a Puerto Rican bomba performance group based in New Haven, CT. The members were brought together by their love of Afro-Latino culture, a shared commitment to preserving and sharing bomba rhythms, and utilizing bomba as a gateway for advancing social justice.
AFINKE (pronounced ah-‘fin-keh and correctly spelled “afinque”) is a traditional Spanish slang term used amongst percussionist and musicians in general to denote a group who plays together as a team (‘nsync). Our 8-piece musical group is comprised of seasoned musicians, who after touring with many notables, decided to come together to share their talents of entertaining audiences and educating them about our Latin musical genre. In addition, we wanted to reach our youth and teach them about our cultural heritage through our music. Our band is highlighted not only for our musicality but also for our showmanship.
Throughout our band’s lifespan, we have had the pleasure of performing in many forums. Some of these include universities, public schools, festivals and even cruises. We have been one of the highlight bands at several large events such as the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven, Norwalk Oyster Festival, Celebrate! West Harford and Queens College Summer Festival Series to name a few. Our diverse repertoire includes styles typical to many Latin American countries including: Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Boleros, Plena, Latin jazz, among others. Our repertoire consists of well-known songs as well as original compositions orchestrated specifically for our ensemble.
Orquesta Afinke is led by trombonist Tito Planas and percussionist Samuel Diaz Jr., two educators who have had the pleasure to share the stage with many well known artists such as Frankie Negron, Tony Vega, Choco Orta, Charlie Cruz, Kevin Ceballo, Raulin Rosendo, Hermanos Moreno amongst other greats of the Latin musical field. Many of our members have recorded with many notables in the Latin and Jazz world. We are currently working on our first CD, which should be released soon.