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** 2024 Commencement Updates **

Fiesta de la Hispanidad 2020 Planning Underway

Photo of Norma Valenzuela

Norma Valenzuela

September 13, 2019

Las Vegas, N.M. – Organizers for the 25th New Mexico Highlands University Fiesta de la Hispanidad on March 8, 2020 are asking the community to begin thinking about musicians, dancers, and other entertainers who want to participate.

Fiesta de la Hispanidad brings music and dance center stage to Ilfeld Auditorium and is a beloved community event that celebrates the local Hispanic culture and Spanish language.

“We’re planning ahead so we can capture a large number of community participants,” said Norma Valenzuela, a languages and culture professor at Highlands. “This will enrich the diversity of the performances and the audience.”

Sara Harris is a Highlands University Spanish language professor emerita who has organized Fiesta de la Hispanidad every year since its inception. This year, Valenzuela is taking the lead in organizing the event with mentorship from Harris.

“The goal of Fiesta de la Hispanidad is to offer a venue for talented individuals in Ilfeld Auditorium, the most beautiful building on the Highlands campus,” Harris said. “We want each performer to shine individually in a building with such good acoustics, which elevates the experience for the audience as well as the entertainers.”

The family show is bilingual.

Proceeds from the show benefit Highlands University students through scholarships the Highlands Foundation awards from the Fiesta de La Hispanidad Scholarship Fund.

The fiesta is looking for sponsors in the Las Vegas business community. Highlands sponsors include the Department of Languages and Culture and the Highlands Foundation.

“I’m delighted that Dr. Valenzuela has shown such passion for the Fiesta de la Hispanidad and that the event is coming back to where it originated in the Department of Languages and Culture,” Harris said.

Valenzuela may be reached at nvalenzuela@nmhu.edu or 505-454-3114.