A divine festival celebrates Salvadoran culture
Carolina and Michele Hernandez of Hempstead Village, 12 and 11, knew precisely why they came to the Festival Divino Salvador Del Mundo (Divine Savior of the World Festival) at Hempstead Town Hall on Aug. 4: the minutas Salvadoreñas, heaping cups of shaved ice coated in oozing flavored syrups.
With Salvadoran music pulsing in the background and the scent of grilling meats suffusing the air, the sisters stood with their dad, Pablo Hernandez, minutas in hand, quietly devouring the sticky-sweet treats with spoons.
“We come for the show and the food,” said Pablo, 35, whose daughters attend Turtle Hook Middle School in Uniondale. “It’s entertaining.”
An estimated 12,000 people packed the parking lot of Hempstead Town Hall Aug. 4 for the festivities, which included 25 Salvadoran bands. In addition to local performers, musical acts came from as far as El Salvador, Los Angeles, and Houston, said Kawaljit Chandi, executive director of the Comite Civico Salvadoreño Inc., which organized the event. Additionally, there were dance troupes like Grupo Torogoz of Boston.
Divine Savior of the World Day is a secular and religious holiday marked in El Salvador each Aug. 1 to 6. The celebration is in remembrance of Jesus Christ, for whom El Salvador (The Savior) is named. Origins of the holiday date back to the 16th century.
Chandi is married to Vivian Pereira, a Salvadoran immigrant and president of Comite Civico Salvadoreño. The couple make their home in Hempstead Village. The 15-member committee first organized the festival three years ago with Hempstead Town’s Department of Community Affairs to help instill pride in the Salvadoran community and demonstrate a love for the local community, Chandi said.
“We feel part of the community here,” noted Chandi, who immigrated from India 25 years ago and met his wife in the United States. “A lot of Salvadorans live here. We should celebrate this day.”
Chandi said Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin supported the idea for the festival to mark National Salvadoran-American Day on Aug. 6. “He was so happy” when approached with the proposal, Chandi said, and immediately offered to work with the committee.
“It’s a big community,” said Zahid Syed, Hempstead’s executive director of community affairs, about the town’s Salvadoran population. “We like to celebrate every culture.”
In addition to the festival, the Comite Civico Salvadoreño also hosts an annual gala and distributes backpacks, notebooks and other school supplies at the start of the academic year and food at Christmas time to those in need.
“We try to send a message to the Hispanic community: Let’s work hard and be an example,” Chandi said. “We contribute to the community because we are part of the U.S.A. We like to give to the community.”
After their minutas, the Hernandezes said they planned to take in the musical acts before grabbing pupusas. The pupusa, El Salvador’s national dish, is a thick tortilla filled with meat or cheese, served with spicy coleslaw on the side.
Minutes later, rain began to pour. The crowd surrounding the stage where high-energy performers were trumpeting Salvadoran tunes did not disburse, though. Many festival goers covered themselves with umbrellas or plastic ponchos, while others ignored the downpour, imbibing the frenetic music and the strong smell of barbecuing food and the camaraderie that the day evoked.
Town officials shut down the festival about an hour before its 7 p.m. closing because of the rain, but the event had already served its purpose: to bring Hempstead Town’s Salvadoran community together for a day of friendship and fun.
