Calle Ocho festival was canceled because of COVID-19. It’s making a virtual comeback
The Calle Ocho Street Festival is happening.
You will not be able to dance in the streets. You can’t sing along with your favorite artists on stage. You won’t be able to eat pan con lechón, arepas, chicharrones and other delicacies of Latin American cuisine from a curbside kiosk. But you can enjoy all of this live, via social media, YouTube and television.
Calle Ocho Live will take place on Oct. 4 in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. It has the potential to make as much noise and fire up the fun as the traditional Calle Ocho Festival, which was canceled in March by the pandemic.
The event’s organizers, the Kiwanis of Little Havana, describe it as a three-hour “extravaganza” that will bring together great Latino artists, as the festival has done for four decades.
There will also be live cooking contests, social media influencers and entertainers who will share their experiences.
“In these difficult times and especially during Hispanic Heritage Month, we need a magical Calle Ocho Live to uplift the Latino community,” said Jorge Fernandez, President of the Kiwanis of Little Havana/Carnaval Miami.
Fernández stressed that Calle Ocho Live will give a national and international projection to the festival, which has already been around for 43 years. At the same time, by broadcasting live on various streaming platforms, it will reach a more “diverse, inclusive and younger audience than ever.”
The final list of performers has not yet been announced, but Calle Ocho Live is produced by RetroPop Media, the same company that presented Altisimo Live. That celebration, in honor of farm workers and heroes who kept us fed us during the pandemic, was a virtual Cinco de Mayo party with Latin and pop music. It was presented by Eva Longoria and Enrique Santos, and also had performances or messages from Gente de Zona, Luis Fonsi, J Balvin, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Sofía Vergara, Luis Guzmán and Jennifer López, among others.
Manny Ruiz, creator of Altisimo Live and founder of Hispanicize Latino Summit, highlighted Calle Ocho Festival as a launching pad for many artists.
“Calle Ocho has been a launch platform for so many greats so we’re incredibly honored to elevate this platform with a virtual Calle Ocho Live experience that will make the Calle Ocho Music Festival stronger, more diverse and youthful, when it returns to the streets of Miami. We can’t wait to help take this brand into the next decade while also tapping into it’s awesome nostalgic past,” said Ruiz.
Calle Ocho Live is also co-produced by the company Atlantino, by Ralph Paniagua, a veteran producer of concerts and sporting events.
The broadcast will also include stories of families that the Kiwanis have helped with their philanthropic work.
The virtual event will be free, but the Kiwanis invite people to donate $ 8 or more during the festival or later on a page dedicated to it by the Kiwanis Foundation of Little Havana.
For more information and to connect to Calle Ocho Live, go to www. CalleOchoLive.com.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
