The Spanish and Latino Student Association hosted its annual Festival Latino on Thursday.

“It’s a cultural event, with music, food and games,” said Ricardo Ortega, a junior history major. “It’s just a really awesome experience.”

The event provided free food, games and music from international DJ Flaco Flash.

“My favorite part is the dancing and the music,” said Kyra Fogg, a sophomore psychology major. “I’m just having a really fun time.”

S.A.L.S.A. recently made some changes to the annual event.

“Things have changed a little bit,” said Aylin Chagolla, a junior speech pathology major and the president of S.A.L.S.A. “Before, we used to have a live band, but we wanted more variety in the music, so we thought a DJ would be better.”

“We changed the name I believe like four years ago,” Chagolla said. “We just switched it around.”

One of the goals for Festival Latino was to showcase the Latino community on campus.

“For us, it’s just being a representation for the Latino community, there’s not that many of us here on campus,” said Katia Rodriguez, a sophomore public relations major and the event planner for S.A.L.S.A. “We just want to showcase who we are and our culture.”

Chagolla said, “S.A.L.S.A. is, for me anyways, it’s an organization where we can break down barriers or misconceptions that people might have.”

S.A.L.S.A. will also host Latin Prom on May 3 in the Student Center Ballroom.

“That’s going to be our final big event for the year,” Rodriguez said. “That’s going to be really fun.”

Jada Miles covers the dean of students and diversity. Contact her at [email protected].