Kimberly Angeles, Contributing Photographer

A dozen kids gathered around a table at the Yale Peabody Museum on Sunday, marveling at the colorful patterns and migration habits of butterflies native to Latin America. 

The workshop was one of several Spanish-language activities that debuted at the annual Fiesta Latina celebration over the weekend. The event, jointly hosted by the local advocacy organization Junta for Progressive Action and the Peabody, aimed to celebrate Latino culture and support the community through science education and the arts.

This year marks only the second time the long-standing local festival lasted two days. This year’s programs included a block party at Junta’s headquarters in Fair Haven on Saturday and a series of Spanish-language science workshops at Yale’s Peabody Museum on Sunday.  

Nialex Fernandez and Rafmary Oyola, both first-year students at public high schools in New Haven, attended Saturday’s block party event and expressed joy at seeing New Haven’s Latino culture on display.

“I love it. I feel like it’s something to be proud of,” Fernandez said. “I love being able to speak Spanish and being able to embrace it.”

The event’s music and food offerings reminded them of their Puerto Rican heritage, they said. Both visited a facepaint booth where they were emblazoned with the star and stripes of the Puerto Rican flag.

At Saturday’s block party, food trucks served ice cream and traditional Mexican food. Families danced along with a Mexican folk dancer and a mariachi band. More than a dozen organizations displayed resources, flyers and offered free giveaways to attendees.

Representatives from Fair Haven Community Health Care hosted a booth at Saturday’s block party to inform community members about their wide range of affordable services, including a new walk-in behavioral health and substance use program.

“We’ve been around for a very long time, but I know that right now a lot of people are still wondering, like, ‘Hey, how are services being impacted? How are things changing?’” Eddy Cordova-Coello, the clinic’s Latino outreach coordinator, said. “We just want people to know that we’re still here.”

The celebration comes at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests have ramped up in New Haven and Connecticut, prompting activists and lawyers to organize in support of community members at risk of deportation or afraid of the impact of more stringent immigration enforcement. 

The New Haven Immigrants Coalition, a group of activists that has led local advocacy against Avelo’s contract with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to fly deportation flights, appeared at Saturday’s event to offer resources to help families defend against arrest and deportation and to be conscious of their rights. 

Sunday’s event at the Peabody featured opportunities for Latino children to interact with science while  celebrating their culture, Andrea Motto, the Peabody Museum’s assistant director of education and outreach, said. New activities include family workshops and lectures facilitated by Yale professors, both conducted in Spanish. 

“One of the things we’ve emphasized this year is pride in culture and identity,” Motto said. “Any opportunity we can give to children and families to take pride in who they are feels really important.”

Museum leaders said they hoped the event would inspire young Latino New Haveners to see themselves as future scientists.

“The Peabody Museum is the way that a lot of people around New Haven can have immediate access to science,” Motto said. “Having kids be able to see possible futures in science by meeting people who do this kind of work feels really cool.”

Old traditions persisted too. A Mariachi band performed at the Peabody on Sunday and at the Fair Haven building on Saturday.

Ashley Rivas, who led the workshop on butterflies, thinks this kind of cultural programming can make  the museum more accessible. 

“A lot of the material upstairs is really only in English, and so it’s really difficult for some of the families who are only Spanish-speaking to get an accessible view of science here,” Rivas said.

Daniel Colón-Ramos, a Yale professor of cell biology and neuroscience, curated a “Mind/Matter” exhibit hosted by the Peabody. He was also invited to host a lecture in Spanish about how science helps to explain the concept of memory. 

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to communicate to a Hispanic audience that science belongs to everyone,” Colón-Ramos said. “Languages can include or exclude.”

Junta for Progressive Action was established in 1969, according to their website.