Since 2013, the City of Charlottesville has officially recognized the third Saturday of September as Cville Sabroso Day. This year, more than 4,000 people are expected in Washington Park for the annual Cville Sabroso Festival, central Virginia’s largest annual Latin American music, dance, and culture gathering.
That will break the event’s previous attendance record, according to Sin Barreras, the organization behind the day. Cville Sabroso launched alongside Sin Barreras in 2012 because of “a need to celebrate and to share a piece of yourself and your own traditions with the broader community,” says Edgar Lara, executive director of Sin Barreras. The Charlottesville- and Waynesboro-based organization supports the area’s Hispanic immigrant community with services including legal consultations and educational workshops.
Lara experienced this need when he first moved to Charlottesville in 2012 and struggled to connect with the city’s Hispanic community. “It was very clear to me as I met people that most didn’t know anything about the culture and the people that I come from,” Lara says.
He found folks who understood his background through Sin Barreras, and the inaugural Cville Sabroso Festival helped set the stage to connect those people with the broader Charlottesville community. “Oftentimes we have heard people say, ‘This festival makes me feel a little more at home. It makes me more comfortable,’” Lara says.
Estela Knott, who co-founded Cville Sabroso with Fanny Smedile, is a member of the Lua Project, a musical group blending Mexican and Appalachian musical styles. Like that Mexilachian blend, Knott describes Cville Sabroso as an opportunity for cultural bridge-building. “We were all immigrants, we all are descendants of immigrants at some time in our past,” says Knott. “The people that are coming now come with rich cultural traditions that add to the fabric of Virginia. These are people who are bringing something to our community, not taking.”
Encouraging positive perception of the impact of immigration on Charlottesville has become especially important for Sin Barreras following the violence that shook the city in August 2017. Lara calls that year’s Cville Sabroso, which was held less than one month later, “a healing moment” for the community. “This event, specifically right after, was such an important part of the healing process,” Lara says. “People saw diversity. They saw all these different things that really stood against what was seen on August 12 … that’s how we push back.”
This year, food trucks will include Mexican food from Antojitos Mexicanos, Sabor Latino, La Flor Michoacana, El Chapparito, and Guadalajara, as well as Uruguayan food from Marina Del Delicia and Argentinian fare from Arepas on Wheels. Vendors will display artisan goods from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
Live performances will feature music and dance from Mexico, Bolivia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Peru, Honduras, El Salvador, the Caribbean, and Colombia. The formation of a Mexican dance group, Villa Sabrosa, was inspired by Cville Sabroso, according to Knott. “Coming to see El Sabroso, it’s an introduction, it’s a taste, and it might lead you to learning about not just where people come from, but how they live and who they are right here,” Lara says.