The celebration will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in the Student Commons at the HACC campus, 731 Old Harrisburg Road. The HACC Hispanic Heritage Celebration is open to the community at no charge.
One of the highlights of this year's event is the appearance of Mariachi Sin Nombres, an initiative of the World Music Connection at McDaniel College. The mariachi band is composed of McDaniel music faculty and students, public school teachers, Carroll Community College students, and members of the Westminster Symphony Orchestra. The band's program will include both Mariachi music and Brazilian Samba for listening and dancing.
The Hispanic Heritage Celebration will also feature a program of traditional Mexican dances performed by Generacion Diez Cultural Club, a performance by Grupo de Danza San Jose, and Latino dance demonstrations which encourage audience participation.
A buffet of traditional Mexican foods will be supplemented with a variety of Latino desserts from the HACC Bilingual Club. A tasting sampler of foods from El Salvador, Cuba, Guatemala, Columbia, Peru, and Puerto Rico will be sponsored by Generacion Diez and Second Generation.
Also during Hispanic Heritage Month at HACC, an art exhibit features vibrant paintings and portraits by Mexican artist Gloria Valdes "Tarasca" and colorful Guatemalan-influenced works by Hanover artist Flavius Lilly. The artists will be recognized at the celebration on Oct. 3 and will be available to talk about their work. The exhibit runs through Oct. 26.
The performance at HACC by Mariachi Sin Nombres is supported by the PA Partners in the Arts (PPA) program, which is an initiative between local arts organizations and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), a state agency. State government funding for the arts comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania's General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PPA is administered in this region by the Council for the Arts in Chambersburg.