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Photos: HNG/HNNUSA

July 27, 2013

Milw., WI - On Saturday,  the First Latino Carnaval parade and music festival with more than one thousand participants began at the 1100 block of W. National Ave. and made its way eastbound to the lakefront, ending at the Wherehouse Night Club festival grounds, 818 S. Water St. At the Wherehouse grounds, food, music and other events continued until late afternoon.

The 58 degree and cloudy cool weather didn't keep the hundreds of festivalgoers from attending. Saturday's Latino Carnaval grand parade was part of a week long celebration of Latino cultures represented in Milwaukee, according to Juan Carlos Ruiz, this year's coordinator of the Latino Carnaval and Grand Parade. Ruiz said, the event was sponsored by 34 partners that included JCS Consulting Solutions, LLC and other institutions, organizations, businesses and community groups to present a diversity of cultures and a celebration of their rich folkloric cultures that includes a variety of flavors of food, music and dance combined to bring a "Carnaval" celebration setting from each of the Latino Amercian countries represented in Milwaukee. This year's Latino Carnaval honorary Queen title went to Maria Monreal-Cameron, according to Ruiz.
The Latino Carnaval (LC) held a Salsa and Bachata dance competition at the event and the 1st place winners were Beth Weinrich and Jason Weinrich who won a trip to Mexico, according to Daniel Balderas, an LC Committee member.
This year's organizing committee for the Latino Carnaval (Carnival) were, Amber Rivard, Jaime Bernabe, Karen Valeria V., Paul Mueller, Daniel Balderas, Toni Ordoñez-Hodge, Barbara Leigh, Kathleen End, Julio Pabon and Adam Smith.