¡Viva Vancouver! brings music, food, drink to Esther Short Park

What other local festival do you know of that offers dance lessons as a part of the party?

That’s the !Viva Vancouver! Festival set for Saturday and Sunday in Esther Short Park. No matter how hot it already is out there, DJs and dance bands that span the wide world of Latin styles — salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, bolero and cha-cha-cha, to name a few — will heat up the park to the point where your feet will need to move. That’s why festival organizers want to give those feet an opportunity to learn how to do it with authentic steps.

Entertainers on tap for the weekend are: On Saturday, DJ Danny D; Marcio and the Brazilianauts, billed as all styles of contemporary music, including American pop-rock, “bioengineered with Brazilian DNA”; Ojos Feos, world-music masters “with a social conscience”; Conjunto Alegre with multi-instumentalist and bandleader Aquiles Montas; and salsa band Salsanova closing out the show. Don’t miss those dance lessons at 4:30 p.m. Saturday with Bachata Soul, an east Vancouver dance academy that will equip you to handle the rest of the weekend in style.

Then, on Sunday, it’s DJ Danny D again; Ray Heker, a popular impersonator of numerous Latino superstars; and dance bands Son de Cuba and the Orchestra Mazandunga.

You don’t have to take lessons to enjoy moving to the music or just taking in the Latino culture that’s growing up all around us in Southwest Washington. Vendors will be happy to sell you delicious local microbrews (or one from Guatemala called Famosa), pina coladas, wines and all sorts of foods.

“The exciting part about the food is, it’s going to be a little bit of everything — Puerto Rican, Mexican, Brazilian — and fresh fruit too, dazzled up with chili and lime,” said event coordinator Lariza Castro.

Local Latino leaders have had big ambitions but a little trouble getting a pair of cultural festivals off the ground in recent years. Last fall’s Tamale Festival, planned for Washougal, got rained out — but this summer’s substitute, just a few weeks ago, was a big smash. And August 2017’s inaugural !Viva Vancouver! Festival was held barely one day before a truly rare, cosmic event — a total solar eclipse — took over much of the planet. That depressed attendance, organizers said.

Another factor may have been the Vancouver Landing site where the first !Viva Vancouver! took place. Not everybody knows where that concrete amphitheater is (on the waterfront that’s now turning into The Waterfront Vancouver development) — and it’s certainly not as green, shady and festival-friendly as Esther Short Park, which is where !Viva Vancouver! will be held this weekend.

“To be honest, we’re better organized. We had our challenges last year, but it was a learning experience. This year there’s a bigger team and more attention to every detail,” said co-organizer Domingo Estrada. “I’m a little nervous, but I’m really excited.”

A portion of the proceeds from !Viva Vancouver! will benefit the Clark County Latino Youth Leadership Conference and its mission to help Latino high school students pursue higher education, technical school or other advancement in life.