Worcester’s annual Latin American Festival, a summer tradition for more than three decades, has been canceled this year.
The August event on the Worcester Common typically attracts thousands of people for a celebration of Latin cuisine, music and dancing.
In a statement, the local nonprofit CENTRO — which hosts the festival — said it decided to call off this year’s gathering “after careful consideration of factors beyond our control.”
“Canceling was not an easy decision, but it is the responsible course of action this year,” the nonprofit’s interim CEO Tina Velazquez wrote.
Reached by phone, Velazquez declined to provide additional reasoning for the cancellation. However, Randy Feldman — who sits on CENTRO’s board of directors — said he believes the decision was primarily due to concerns that federal immigration authorities might interrupt the event and detain some attendees.
“It’s a sad state of affairs when a group of people say, ‘We’re so afraid, you’ve so made our people so afraid to live a public life. You’ve so diminished our public expression of the power and joy that we take in each other and in our culture that we’re now afraid to rejoice,’” Feldman said.
Fears of immigration enforcement in Worcester have surged since federal agents detained a woman during a chaotic operation in May on Eureka Street. Feldman, a local immigration attorney, noted that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has continued to arrest people around the city in recent months.
“We just had somebody that I appeared [in court] for yesterday that we’re trying to get out on bond who has been here four years, overstayed their visitor’s visa, no criminal record,” he said. “There’s been much more than just Eureka Street.”
This year’s Latin American Festival would have been the 33rd edition of the event. Organizing the celebration involves booking musical guests and food vendors, securing sponsors and paying for police details.
Roberto Diaz is currently executive director of the nonprofit Worcester Interfaith, but used to work for CENTRO and said he understands the organization’s decision to cancel the outdoor festival. He noted that even if the event did happen, many people would have decided not to attend due to their fear of immigration authorities.
Still, he added the festival is one of the city’s biggest community events. He would have preferred if CENTRO held at least a smaller version of the celebration at an indoor location where people might feel safer.
“I think there’s a level of creativity that I would have loved to maybe have seen. But people got to do what’s best for them and their organization,” he said.
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