Festival reaches out to Hispanics

As part of the two-day event this weekend, organizations in Clearwater will set up booths with information on services.

By MAUREEN BYRNE

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 4, 2000

CLEARWATER -- Organizers of a two-day festival this weekend will present a variety of entertainment, cuisine and art that will highlight Hispanic culture.

They also hope to enlighten members of the local Latin population on the many services available to them.

As part of the Uno Latin Festival, about a dozen community organizations will set up booths in Coachman Park on Saturday to provide information on everything from how to vote to what government agencies offer bilingual services.

It is an ideal opportunity for these groups to reach members of the Hispanic population, many of whom are new to the area and do not speak English, said Alex Emmanuelli, executive director of the Uno Federation Community Services, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 to support the local Hispanic population.

"The festival is one of the tools we can use to do that," Emmanuelli said. "That's going to be our thrust -- to get information to them."

The event, co-sponsored by Clearwater's Cultural Arts Division and the Uno Federation Community Services, will begin with a concert at 6:30 p.m. Friday and continue from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday.

About 8,000 people, most of whom were Hispanic, attended last year's festival. Organizers were hoping for a larger number, but rainy weather affected the turnout, said event coordinator Margo Walbolt, a supervisor with Clearwater Parks and Recreation Department.

The Hispanic population in Pinellas County has nearly tripled, from 10,500 in 1980 to more than 28,000 in 1995, according to the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Since 1990, almost a third of the 1.4-million people who moved to the state were Hispanic. Fourteen percent of Clearwater's population, which is 104,000, is Hispanic, according to city officials.

"We're still presenting a wonderful, energetic lineup of Latin talent, but we're expanding information about community services," Walbolt said.

Among the organizations that will be present Saturday are Catholic Charities, Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services, Religious Community Services, Pinellas County Finance Authority and League of Women Voters.

Gert Azarva, first vice president for the North Pinellas branch of the League of Women Voters, will be at the waterfront park on Saturday.

With two voting booths borrowed from the county's Supervisor of Elections office, she and fellow league members will demonstrate to children and adults how simple it is to vote, even if it is only for a mock election for candidates such as Latin singers Ricky Martin and Gloria Estefan.

"It's been our experience that some people are bewildered by the voting machine," Azarva said. "If we can help them see that it is not a complicated process, then we have performed a service."

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