La Guelaguetza combines cultures in Kaysville

KAYSVILLE, Utah ( ABC4 ) — The mountains of Utah remind Norma Carver of her home, Oaxaca, Mexico. With her organization, “Oaxaca en Utah” , she looks to spread the culture of her homeland to her new home.

Carver was inspired to learn more about her roots because of her daughter, Mayah. She explained, “She was three years old and she started eating hot salsa. And she’s like, ‘I want to know more about your roots. Can you tell me?'”

It was then that Oaxaca en Utah was born. Their mission is inclusion and diversity. Carver says they have people from El Salvador, Venezuela, and Peru among others. The yearly festival is called “La Guelaguetza.”

She detailed, “La Guelaguetza means an offering of a gift, a present to the community. And that’s why we’re doing a gift and preparing beautiful surprises for everybody on July 20th.”

That gift is not only sharing their culture with the community but bringing it to life in Utah.

“It’s important so that we can keep our culture, so we can keep our roots, and so everybody can learn more and experience more about our culture,” said Mayah. “And so then that everybody gets to see our beautiful dresses and our dialect and our food.”

La Guelaguetza has grown substantially from its inception in 2020 to just 30 people. Carver tells ABC4 that last year, Kaysville was full with 15,000 people at the festival. Now, the town even pitches in to put it on. It also includes vendors from several states including California and Arizona.

Carver said, “It feels good when somebody is welcome, right? When I first came to this country, I felt welcome. I love this country. I love my roots. And that’s why I celebrate with everybody. Oaxaca en Utah is an organization that includes people is inclusion. Diversity. That’s what Oaxaca en Utah does for everybody.”

The festival is being held at Heritage Park in Kaysville starting at noon and ending at 10 p.m. The event is free to attend.

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