Latino Fest Expecting to Draw 20K Attendees

The best in the state's offerings of Latin food and entertainment will be available to patrons who attend the inaugural Maryland Latino Festival on Sunday at the . (Click here for Spanish site)

Festival representatives are expecting 20,000 to 30,000 attendees this weekend for a day of food, dancing and headlining Hispanic performers. 

“Based on some of the early returns, it looks like we’re going to make those numbers,” said festival spokesman Darrell Carrington. 

The festival was envisioned by business owner Luis Contreras as a way of galvanizing the growing Hispanic population in Baltimore County. 

“Baltimore County has one of the fastest growing Latino populations,” Contreras said. “I started working on this a year and a half ago and it’s finally coming true.” 

Contreras said it was important to find a location large enough to accommodate 11 well-known musical performers as well as 33 vendors and 20 food vendors all representing cultures from Central and South America. 

Proceeds from the festival benefit U.S. Hispanic Youth Entrepreneur Education (USHYEE), a non-profit that provides scholarships to deserving Latino students. 

“He wanted to do something to give back to the entire Baltimore County Latino community,” Carrington said, speaking on behalf of Contreras. 

The festival begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, with music starting at noon, until 9 p.m. in the infield of the Maryland State Fairground racetrack. It's about an hour away from the DC Metro region just north of the city of Baltimore.

General admission is $25 (available here). VIP tickets have already sold out. 

Scroll through the attached YouTube videos to see who is performing at Latino Fest this weekend.