This past Sunday I was in Atlanta and I decided to go see one of their Latin festivals, the Festival Peachtree Latino, to compare to festivals in Charlotte. This event celebrated its 10th anniversary at Underground Atlanta downtown, which, if you've never been, is a veritable hellhole of bad urban planning and privatized public space. But on Sunday, the space was filled with festivalgoers ready to have fun.
The day started out with a parade of high school drill teams, motorcycle clubs, and these vaqueros riding down Peachtree Street.
Then, a couple of security guards got swallowed up by this inflatable-
The flags of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic were raised high along with the Stars and Stripes near the golden Capitol dome.
The music started out with some local acts. I was sorely disappointed, they all sang with playback and were really cheesy. Really, you can't find a good local band in Atlanta?
The only bright spot was this drumline and brass group from Panama.
After the local acts, Belinda, a telenovela star came on stage. Her singing left a bad taste in my mouth, along with her poser mohawk.
The crowd danced when El Gringo de la Bachata performed.
But the festival organizers dropped the ball, El Gringo was followed by...
nothing, 40 minutes of stage silence when nobody was on stage. The audience was bored, and I think there were even a few fights as teenagers wondering around found there was nothing to do. I almost left but decided to stick around for one more act.
Some Dominicans decided to take musical matters into their own hands:
Pee Wee, another teenybopper telenovela singer took the stage. He had a lot of energy, but only the tween girls were excited. I guess with Telemundo as a sponsor, the organizers used the network's talent rather than looking for something more original. Too bad, several weak spots and poor planning put a damper on what could have been a great day downtown.
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