Harris County Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month at Bayland Park

Harris County Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month at Bayland Park

A vibrant folklórico skirt flutters onstage to the rapid clicking of castanets at the Hispanic Heritage Month Festival at Bayland Park on the afternoon of September 28, 2024. 

Twenty-one flags wave in the wind, circling a patch of grass. They represent Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Honduras, Venezuela, Spain, and other Hispanic countries.

Just to the left, folklórico dancers, flamenco groups, Aztec dancers, and others perform on a makeshift stage across the street from Bayland Community Center. A crowd forms to watch between the vendor tents and tables bordering the stage area. Children run around the festival grounds, sporting colors from a face-painting station and wearing smiles brought by a balloon artist.

Food trucks line the community center's parking lot with options like Cuban-inspired cuisine, snow cones, fruit cups, and more. The Harris County Precinct 4 bus, parked nearby, serves as an air-conditioned cooling zone. On the other side of the parking lot, children carry handfuls of candy they win from game stations and a piñata.

One informational vendor is ALMAAHH: Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural Arts & Archive Complex in Houston, Harris County. Director of Development Dr. John Cisneros shares ALMAAHH's vision of “creating and sustaining a home for the US Latinos, where we can express ourselves through our arts and culture.” ALMAAHH acts as a museum without walls through partnerships with local artists, Lone Star College, and other organizations—including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (for a fall festival happening around the end of October).

Some of ALMAAHH's in-person programs are located in the Bayland Park Community Center, but the organization wants to build a museum (by 2030) to “showcase, preserve, and expand Latino arts and culture.” Harris County recently donated $800,000 toward the museum, but the total estimated cost is $200 million. For now, ALMAAHH also offers digital programs.

A festivalgoer (who does not provide her name) says she heard about this festival on Nextdoor and brought her whole family, along with friends visiting from out of town. The afternoon is filled with chatter and lively music.

“We want them to know they have a space here, to be themselves,” says Harris County Precinct 4 representative Celeste Padilla. Padilla says this festival helps create a channel of communication between the community and Precinct 4.

Another line of communication is the 2024 Listening Tour. The tour stops next on October 19, 2024 (1:00 PM to 3:00 PM), at the Alief Neighborhood Center. The community can meet Commissioner Lesley Briones and learn more about upcoming Precinct 4 projects.

Author: Aileen Aviles

Aileen Aviles, reporter & translator
Aileen Aviles is a sophomore studying Legal Studies and Spanish at Houston Christian University. She enjoys volunteering, learning history, and traveling. She grew up near the Sharpstown area and is glad to be able to share her love for the area with The Sharpener’s audience.