This past weekend, thousands of people, many in Guatemalan soccer jerseys, strolled through blocked off streets outside Lafayette Park. There, tents were occupied with vendors selling traditional Guatemalan food dishes, toys, packaged snacks, art and clothes from Guatemala, while Guatemalan music echoed through speakers.
“Everybody’s having fun, people are having their food, hearing marimba music,” said Giovanni Bautista, spokesperson for Festival Chapín. “We had the official inauguration with a giant Guatemalan flag. We sang the national anthem. We are very happy to be here.”
Also in tents were immigration attorneys ready to inform individuals about their rights and pathways to citizenship — while a robust security team was stationed outside the event. This came after the two-day Festival Chapín, which is dedicated to celebrating the Guatemalan community in Los Angeles, was postponed this summer because of aggressive raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
William Alma Mills, an immigration attorney who was present at the festival, said his team spent the day doing 15-minute consultations with attendees to determine if they had a way to establish U.S. residency. While attorneys had attended the year before, they fortified their team to meet the increased need amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
“There’s a lot of ICE raids happening, and it’s urgent that people who have a route to residency take advantage of those opportunities,” Alma Mills said. “A lot of people don’t know that they actually could become U.S. residents because they haven’t really talked to an attorney.”
In a time when some community members might fear going to work every day amid the raids, Bautista said it is important to have fun in the midst of that. The festival is a chance for Guatemalans living in Los Angeles to enjoy the things they miss most about their country of origin.
“We are always thinking about our relatives, we are always working really hard to send them money, but at the same time, we miss our customs, our traditions, our culture,” Bautista said. “That’s the soul of the Guatemalan Festival.”
This year’s theme was Chicicastenago: a small Guatemalan village where the Popol Vuh, or the history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala, was first translated — and where there is a Maya ceremony outside the Santo Tomás church every day. Performers in costumes captivated the audience as they danced to the song “Baile de Los Moros y Cristianos” outside a replica of the church.
The event was attended by six congressmen from Guatemala who wanted to stand with the community. Miguel Ovalle, president of the Migrants Committee of the Guatemalan Congress, attended the festival and said that it was similar to the fairs and public markets in Guatemala.
For Ligia Montenegro, the festival was a chance to show her second-generation daughters Guatemalan culture. Montenegro’s parents are from Guatemala and she herself has visited, but her daughters have not, so the festival was a chance for them to get an immersive experience.
“My daughters wanted to come and see what the culture is like, what kind of different foods they have,” Montenegro said. “They wanted to experience it themselves.”
At the festival, Café Quetzal brought 100-year-old coffee from Guatemala to its attendees. There were also various other traditional foods and drinks, such as tamales, enchiladas, carne asada, agua frescas and more.
Bartolo Hernandez had a space with his family, where they were able to sell Maya textiles and clothes, as well as dishes such as chuchito and churrasco. His sister is a fashion designer in Guatemala, and she brought clothes to sell to the attendees during the weekend. They have attended the Festival Chapín for seven of the nine years it has been in LaFayette Park, and Hernandez said that it grows bigger each year.
Even though they have some locations across Los Angeles, they chose to participate in the festival because, as Maya people, it makes them happy to be around their community.
“This opportunity is a joy for us because we are coming together,” Hernandez said.
Jessica Ramirez, whose mother immigrated to the U.S. at 17 years old, echoed the sentiment. She said her family attended the festival to appreciate their culture and roots.
“It’s nice to be surrounded with our people, to hear our music, just be proud to be who we are,” Ramirez said. “It’s nice to not be scared, we’re not worried that ICE is going to come in here.”
Ozwaldo Flores, who has been in the U.S. for 30 years from Guatemala, attended the festival with his daughter, wife and father-in-law. It was his second time at the festival, as the food and community brought him back for another year. The tortillas con carne were his favorite, and he said it was especially important for his family to honor their Guatemalan roots in a time when the country is so divided.
“In this country, at this time, everybody is separate for different reasons. So to get together here, for the same future, the same roots and the same food, is perfect,” Flores said.
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