Latinidad in Minnesota: Block parties, indie films and a taco crawl mark Hispanic Heritage Month

September is bringing a month-long celebration of Latino culture across Minnesota: Hispanic Heritage Month, starting Sept. 15, and Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16.

Community festivals will pop up across the Twin Cities, Brooklyn Park and Rochester. Latine visual artists will invite you into the life of a “Minnesotane.” A taco tour will take you down Lake Street and Cine Latino returns with five days of films at the Main Cinema. Here are 10 ways to join the festivities. 

To be Minnesotane

In Spanish, there are two ways to say “to be.” 

“Ser” speaks to who you are — your identity, history and culture. While “estar” speaks to where you are — the places you inhabit and how those places shape you. 

For emerging Mexican curator Lucino Sosa Montaño, that distinction offers a way to think about what it means to be “Minnesotane.” It’s a term Latino artists living and working in Minnesota are defining in a group show opening Saturday at St. Paul’s CLUES Art Gallery. 

Being “Minnesotane” means claiming collective belonging, even amid Operation Metro Surge and ongoing immigration sweeps in the state, Montaño said. 

“We belong here,” he said. “When a system is trying to get rid of us, we need to hold our ground and show that we aren’t the ‘perfect victims’ that the media always portrays. We can experience more than just grief. We can experience joy.” 

The exhibit, “To be Minnesotane: Ser y Estar,” is divided into four sections: the journey of migration, labor and survival, faith and resilience, and community. 

“The undocumented community is still in fear and they don’t have safe spaces to speak,” Montaño said. “Even though we’re still grieving our people being deported, we still need community to make us feel whole.”

The 23 works include Kenneth Antonio Rivera’s “Migration,” which depicts a parent holding a child with butterfly wings. In “Worship Me,” Mikha Dominguez reimagines the Virgin Mary through a queer Latino perspective and Irving Vazquez’s installation imagines what Indigenous and Mesoamerican visual culture might look like today if colonization never happened. 

The gallery will host an artist reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10. 

Mexican Independence Day Celebration

West Side Fiestas will host its annual Mexican Independence Day Celebration in St. Paul, marking Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule in 1810. 

At Castillo Park, find a kids zone, local food trucks and performances from musicians and dancers, including Miguel Angel Fernandez and Los Alegres Bailadores. 

Across the street, at El Rio Vista Recreation Center, soccer games and a lowrider car show will take place throughout the day. 

Latino Fest

In Brooklyn Park, catch salsa, Mexica-Nahua and Peruvian dance performances at Latinofest. La Cocina will also be on-site, serving free enchiladas and churros to the first 200 guests.

Nature Fest

Bloomington’s Nature Fest will feature lotería games, screen printing, face painting, birdwatching walks, archery and live community art. The day also includes mariachi, Caribbean music and a DJ set, along with Mexica-Nahua, Peruvian and folkloric dance performances. The first 250 people to arrive will receive free food vouchers. 

Hispanic Heritage Day

The Minnesota Zoo will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Day with folkloric and Ecuadorian dance. The day will also feature community resources, an arts market and a Mexican folk art workshop.

Fiesta Latina

CLUES’ annual Fiesta Latina will bring Colombian, Peruvian and folkloric music and dance to CHS Field in St. Paul. Visitors can also explore an arts market and job fair, alongside free health screenings and backpack giveaways. 

Latino Fest in Rochester

Rochester’s Latino Fest will feature indoor and outdoor activities at the Historic Chateau Theatre and Peace Plaza. Step into a celebration of folkloric fashion, Peruvian dance, Argentinian music, mariachi and salsa. The festival will also include a poetry contest themed “Voices of Our Heritage,” and a screening of “Nuestro Norte,” a documentary about five Latine community leaders in Minnesota. 

Taco Tour

Eat your way down Lake Street during the annual Taco Tour, where more than 30 restaurants and food trucks will offer tacos for $3 or less. 

At Mercado Central, catch Aztec dance, a taco-eating contest and a free bike repair station. At El Nuevo Campo, make a taco puppet, try screen printing or join Los Callejeros Run Club for a 5K run starting at 4 p.m. A Metro Transit pass will also be available to help visitors get between stops.

Additional events on Lake Street include storytelling and music at Plaza Centenario, a salsa-making demonstration by the BIPOC Foodways Alliance at Midtown Farmers Market and a block party at the YWCA. Find the schedule here.  

Brazil Day

Minneapolis’ La Doña Cervecería Brewery will celebrate Brazil Day, observed annually  in Minnesota on Sept. 30, with a showcase featuring traditional and contemporary music genres. Attendees can experience samba, rock, Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) — a blend of pop, rock and jazz — and sertanejo, Brazil’s mainstream country music. 

The event will also feature performances of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art that integrates music and dance. Brazilian food trucks will also be onsite. 

Cine Latino

The annual Cine Latino Film Festival returns to Main Cinema with 15 full-length films, a short film program, and a food and drink experience. 

Festival highlights include opening night’s “La Bola Negra,” a queer historical drama following the interconnected lives of three gay men across Spanish history in 1932, 1937 and 2017. Another standout is “Daughters of the Forest,” a documentary about two Indigenous scientists working to protect Mexico’s endangered woodlands through the study of wild mushrooms. 

Additional events include a youth movie night at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and a closing-day parade outside the theater on Sunday, Oct. 11, featuring live music and traditional alebrije folk art.