LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One day after Derby 150, the celebrations continued in the heart of downtown, on Fourth Street Live! for Cinco De Mayo.
"We'll continue to celebrate all the other cultures from Latin America," Amos Izerimana, the director of international an immigrant affairs for Louisville Metro Government, said.
"To kind of enjoy something that maybe they wouldn't, don't enjoy it or even been exposed to," DuPont Manual High School student, Lline Peraltadanger, said.
Sonia Ruiz and her husband began hosting an event to celebrate their heritage, seven years ago.
"This is for Louisville," she said. "His saying was, 'Hey, the Derby is over. This is the last party. So come on down.'"
Ruiz's husband passed last December, but before doing so, he had one last request.
"Before he passed away, he wrote to (event) sponsors and said, 'Would you make this happen again? Make this be my legacy?' And here we are," Ruiz said.
As a legacy lives on, others are just beginning.
"I think it means a lot to all of us. It's the first time that you've done something so public in our time of leadership," Peraltadanger said.
Among the dozens of performers and speakers at Sunday's event were three DuPont Manual High School students, representing the Jefferson County Public School's Latin American and Hispanic Student Organization and allies.
"Like for everyone to come together and like, celebrate the Cinco de Mayo, and also educate people on the importance of Cinco de Mayo to people who aren't part of the Latin American Hispanic community. It's just like really empowering," Johnathan Ortega, a DuPont Manual High School student, said.
"It's a city-wide event. And everyone's like, seeing our culture put on display," Amy Arias Quijano, another DuPont Manual High School student, said. "So that everyone like feels welcome to be here. Like there's even non Hispanic non Latino people here today. And I think it's just great to be able to celebrate with everyone."
Louisville is home to a vibrant Latin American community, including a growing Cuban immigrant community.
"As you probably have heard, the second largest Cuban population in the country, outside of Miami, Florida. And so that's one of the things that we were very happy and to celebrate," Izerimana said.
"It's very important to participate in events like this, especially now that there's a rise in Latin X and Hispanic students across all of JCPS," Omar Rodriguez, an academic instructional coach at DuPont Manual High School, said.
For JCPS instructors, the holiday is a time to reflect on progress and the challenges ahead.
"We need to make sure that everybody has a seat at the table, and that everybody has the space to share the culture with everybody," Rodriguez said. "And we can join and shared our culture together."
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