Aurora preparing to celebrate Fiesta de Luces
The City of Lights will be beaming with Hispanic heritage Sept. 19 as Aurora celebrates the Fiesta de Luces.
The "party of lights" is held in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which includes the festivals of independence from Spain by Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
The free family event will run 2 to 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Aurora Transportation Center, Lincoln Avenue and Spring Street.
The festivities will begin with the national anthem at 2 p.m. followed by the Parade of Nations at 2:45 p.m., which will feature costumed children from Aurora schools carrying the flags of 21 Latin American countries.
Headlining this year's event is British band Anima Pop, which will take the main stage at 6 p.m.
Anima Pop, formally known as AvantGarde, is a British pop band that has been active since 2002 and is the winner of the "Best Spanish New Band of 2007 Award" given by the Spanish Music Press in 2008.
Anima Pop songs are influenced by post-punk and pop music with lyrics in English, French and Spanish. The group has performed more than 100 concerts across the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Portugal and Switzerland.
Also featured at Fiesta de Luces will be La Enkantadora Banda Karembe, Taller Borincano, Internacional Ballet Folklorico, Mariachi, as well as a beer garden, car show, boxing show, children's cultural activities and arts and crafts.
The event is sponsored, in part, by the city's Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board, which aims to educate the community about how Hispanics helped shape Aurora and to fund scholarships for Hispanic students in the community. It is one of the board's three major annual events, with the others being a community breakfast in January and Dia de los Ninos in April.
If you go
What: Aurora's Fiesta de Luces celebration
When: 2 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19
Where: Aurora Transportation Center parking lot, Lincoln Avenue and Spring Street
Cost: Free
Info: (630) 844-3640