Another year and another beautiful display of what our community is about: good vibes, unity, diversity, inclusion and tolerance!
Despite the UK going through a hard time we managed to deliver a fantastic event for everyone, creating memories for 3 generations of Latinos and non-Latinos who came together to celebrate the vibrancy of our culture: music, dance, arts…all for free in one of London’s most loved spots, Finsbury Park.
What can we say about the bands, musicians, dancers, DJs, hosts who were, simply, fantastic. I mean can we put on a party or what!?
From the bottom of our hearts we would like to thank everyone who came and who supported, for the exceptional behaviour, for the love you are showing us on social media and for your constant display of affection for what we do. The food traders for delivering exceptional quality and showing the world the flavour and variety of our cuisines. The tech crews, stage managers, cleaners, logistic staff, security, the park team were absolutely amazing as we are a small company trying to deliver big and everyone really pulls their weight. The media who showed love, from the BBC to our community publications.
The Year of the Collaborations…
We saw London’s new Latino poster boy Angelo Flow strut his stuff alongside UK urban talent J Spades, Lisa Mercedes and Sav12, showing our common musicality and officially giving birth to a brand new crossover genre on a major festival stage. Spanish artists wowed the crowd with Nu-Flamenco hip hop soul, courtesy of a collaboration between LatinoLife and The Spanish Wave.
We reached across the Atlantic to our friends at DJ City, who worked with our award-winning Djs from Viva London to deliver sizzling summers sounds. And, finally, we urged artists to work together to showcase the best of their genre, few showed this better than the Dominicans - Faqundo Gonzalez, Tatto RD, La Frecuencia - who set the stage on fire with their ‘Dominican Power!’
The Year of Female Leads…
Without being intentional, and a coincidence of pure merit, we were super proud to find that 90% of La Clave Stage’s line -up was either female led bands or female acts. Heavy weight band leader Eliane Correa brought us Europe’s only female led Cuban timba band and Colombian salsa band leader Luisa Santiago showed the men of the salsa world how its done.
Lauren Nine and Queralt Lahoz captivated us with their powerful vocals and nu-spanish-Latin soul as did Latin jazz infused Neosoul of Chilean Londoner Rosa Cecilia. Rising stars Georgia Scott, Lucy Calcines, A Nahomi, Ava and Lisey Tigra showed us the future. And let’s not forget Daniel Vince's mesmerising co-lead vocalist Gata Ferlanga.
The Year of the Dancers…
Every year production values at LatinoLife get better at better and this year, all our headliners took it up a notch by bringing astonishing dance acts that injected new energy to the stage. On the urban stage, Angelo’s slick choreography who two male dancers, was followed by the Afrobeat extraordinaire of Alvarez Funk. On the Brazilian stage, 10 performances, from Brazilian Hip hop to Samba and Capoeira delighted audiences throughout the day.
On La Clave Stage, Daniel Vince added two amazing dancers to his spectacle. And on the DJ stage Erika da Silva and her Empyrean dance crew lit the park up with their amazing street dance. Dancers carried on in the pit, their free style skills propelling DJs to bring them back on stage, inspiring the audience to dance their socks off - a sight to behold!
The Year of the Presenters…
Finally our community is growing in confidence and, with it, our talent is emerging to take centre stage. Didn't our presenters do an amazing job? I mean what other presenters have as much flavour, as much natural flair, are so much fun and can dance so well?!Well done to Carina & Luch, Jemelin & Richard, Erika & Jhon and Neto and Daisy for the amazing job they did.
But most of all, another brilliant year of YOU!...
Every year we end up exhausted, but what makes all the effort and sacrifices worthwhile is seeing how this event brings the best out in people. You come in all ages, shapes, colours and sizes and bring us your smiles, your laughter, your creativity, your passion and your appreciation. And so, another year and another beautiful display of what our city and community is about: good vibes, unity, diversity, inclusion and tolerance. Together we prove why this festival is the UK’s only festival to feature in Europe’s Inclusive Festival Guide (Festspace).
The future of a free, unfenced event is always uncertain and we battle every day to keep LatinoLife the little oasis of joy it is. With the cost of living as high it is, we need free events more than ever, So please keep supporting us, sharing us because you shouting about us loud enough will help bring us back bigger and better next year. Write to Haringey Council and tell them you want us back, to the Mayor of London and tell them we need more support, and to the Arts Council to thank them for supporting us because it's thanks to their support that we've been able to grow.
For more info on LatinoLife in the Park visit www.latinolifeinthepark.com
