LYNN — It was a great weekend for diversity and culture in the city.
Saturday’s Lynn Latino Festival was followed Sunday by the first-ever Diversity Festival.
The Latino Festival was jam-packed, filled with events like dance contests, folk dances, music performances and even dancing horses. Also present were various local restaurants and vendors.
For Dulce Gonzalez, who helped organize the festival, it was great to see her and others’ hard work finally come to fruition.
“It’s been really nice to get to see everybody come together today,” Gonzalez said. “We have beautiful weather so I think that’s helping too, but in all reality the purpose of the festival is really to get people out in the community. We had a very tough year, and so I think this brings a little bit of life. So it’s been a very rewarding feeling to see everybody here.”
Jose M. Encarnacion, a candidate for an at-large seat on the Lynn City Council, said that Saturday was a great day to interact with the community and an exciting time.
“The Latino community is almost half of the population in Lynn,” said Encarnacion. “Every day they are getting more involved in the political arena.”
He also stressed the importance of the Latino community in Lynn becoming more aware of happenings around the city and how certain things affect the Latino community.
Gonzalez also stressed the importance of the Latino community to Lynn.
“Latinos, when we go through a lot of things, we’re people who thrive and wherever we go we thrive,” said Gonzalez. “For us being in Lynn, it’s a huge success. It’s awesome to see so many local businesses opening up, all of our kids in schools. I went to Lynn Public Schools and I went to KIPP Academy, too. It’s very rewarding to see our people lift each other up and help each other out.”
The city’s first Diversity Matters Festival took place Sunday in Red Rock Park on Lynn Shore Drive. Dozens came to enjoy the outdoor event.
This was the first time Lynn was acknowledging and welcoming all cultures in this way, said Nicole McClain, founder and director of the North Shore Juneteenth Association.
McClain said that she came up with the idea of the festival in 2020, when a lot of Black Lives Matter protests happened around the country and the Stop Asian Hate movement started in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All of that racial unrest happening made me want to bring something to our community that embraces every culture and shows the benefit of having such a diverse community,” said McClain, naming Black, Cambodian and Russian cultures among many others represented in Lynn. “It is something to be proud of and not be divisive about.”
A lot of community organizations came together to organize the festival, including Total Inspiration Athletics, Artful Life Counseling Center, Lynn Museum, Creative Collective and Marblehead School of Music.
Vendor tents framed the park. To the right from the ocean view, artists were selling jewelry, pottery, candles, drawings, clothes and other handmade items, while, to the left, visitors lined up for Hispanic, American and Asian food and sweet treats. The Salvation Army was offering free slushies and cotton candy.
Some tents introduced visitors to aspiring politicians or those running for re-election, as well as representatives from local organizations, such as the E.F. Gilmore Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, or Leo (Leading through Empowering Opportunities), Inc, a community action agency that connects low-income clients to various resources. The Leo table was signing people up for a bike raffle, while carrying out a survey for the Lynn Safe Streets for People initiative.
Some visitors set up chairs on the lawn. Some played corn hole or watched a Boston Circus Guild aerial performance.
The most fun was happening at the stage where visitors were enjoying a band, dancing and poetry. Members of Cultura Latina Dance Academy performed belly dance, bachata and salsa.
When a group of young women performed a traditional Cambodian dance in cream-and-gold outfits and coconut shells in their hands, mixing traditional music with hip-hop and Latin tunes, many viewers pointed their phones at the dancers and started recording.
Samnang Iv of Lynn, who helped create the costumes and whose daughter and niece participated in the dance, said it felt amazing to be able to share her culture. She said it’s important for the Cambodian people in Lynn to keep their traditions alive and pass them onto their kids.
“Cambodian culture is very colorful and ancient,” said Iv.
Among all the fun, Lynn Community Health Center set up a mobile COVID-19 vaccination tent. They were able to vaccinate more than 30 people between the two weekend festivals.
