Fiesta Amistad draws big crowd

OTHELLO - Take a gorgeous summer evening, add live music, and the result is a lot of people in Lions Park for the return of American Fiesta Amistad Aug. 8 and 9.

The fiesta was a tradition in Othello for almost a decade and a half before taking a one-year break. It's designed to promote and celebrate American and Latin cultures, and the results that occur when they mix, founder Emiliano Martinez said in an earlier interview.

The music lineup included two nights of classic rock, cumbia, country, rancheras, blues and nortena. There was a little audience participation when members of the Andy Sulzman band went into the crowd Saturday night.

Columbia Basin Health Associates sponsored a health information fair on Saturday afternoon, and the park was full of vendors with bubble guns, blow-up unicorns, paddle balls. Vendors served carne asada with fresh tortillas, flavored water, hamburgers and sno-cones.

Fiesta Amistad is designed as a family-friendly event, Martinez said, and the park was filled with families. Kids chased bubbles, danced to the music and turned cartwheels in the grass.

Earlier in the day there were dancing and song impersonator contests for kids, along with a dunk tank.