The last 10 years have been a whirlwind of ideas and frenetic activity as we’ve attempted to put them into action, mostly as a two-person show. Jose and I met in 2001 and have been inseperable since, both in life and in work. He is the ideas machine and I am the eternal executor; once he unleashes his an idea I don't stop till we get it done. One year, 2021 I think, we had 40,000 people in Finsbury Park, and it was literally just José and I and a few helpers. That was the year José ended up in hospital, such was the strain of the juggling act.

The following year, when we finally did get a production manager, Robert, he jokingly asked if José would be filling in for the drummer, grilling sausages at one of the food stalls AND refereeing the kids football tournament, while stage managing and dealing with the Council inspectors.

Now LatinoLife in the Park is the UK’s largest one day Latin music festival, the only Latino-run major park festival, voted the UK’s most inclusive festival (FestSpace). And yet it is just one in a whole ecosystem of LatinoLife activity that includes weekly nightclubs, showcases, concerts, film screenings, supper clubs, conferences, incubators, mentoring, outreach and talent development programmes.  It is our flagship event that literally takes ‘into the park’ everything we do all year round and says to the public: this is who we are.

We’ve made mistakes, suffered several failures and enjoyed relief at somehow pulling off our mad ideas against all the odds. It’s been a roller coaster of intense highs and lows. Most of all, a lot of grafting, and a lot of running around like headless chickens. And yet, something has always driven us forward; the exhilaration, the joy, the energy we get from the crowd, the appreciation from artists, the affirmation from the community, the thrill of seeing others love our offering (even the haters), and the sense that this is simply what we have to do. I guess you have to be crazy or stubborn or both to even get close to building something from scratch. Here’s how it happened, year by year. 

2016 - THE BEGINNING

With no money, our only option was to start local and start small. We were living in Hornsey in North London at the time, which happened to have its own festival centred around the plaza in front of an amazing Art Deco listed building that was the Hornsey Town Hall. It was a lovely community event, only that the full diversity in Haringey wasn’t represented. We figured it could definitely do with an injection of Latin joy and so approached the organisers about us taking over a day. 

Of course, we were never going to start small. True to our nature, we wanted to do EVERYTHING; a proper cultural take over. And so we approached art galleries, small venues all around the area, and ended up in over 20 venues. We had poetry readings in cafes (Leo Boix and Leila Segal), intimate Jazz concerts (Ahmed Dickinson and Luiz de Almeida), a pub gig by Katy Prado, even two theatre pieces, one by our LUKAS-winning theatre director, Tasmine Clarke.

Inside the town hall, we had Spanish sing-a-longs and choral sessions by Camilo Menjura, film screenings and talks by Latin American Bureau, DJ workshops, piñata making, samba drumming and a ‘Copa America’ tournament involving eight local schools.  We hosted four films in local cinemas, literature readings, an art installation and three exhibitions.

The main stage in the square, included performances of all ages and genres; including The Purple Dads led by a 9-yr-old UK-Bolivian prodegé, 16-yr-old UK-Colombian Paloma and 18-yr-old UK-Mexican Maria Jose. Then we had the professionals: Gerardo de Armas (Cuban Rumba) Mike Kalle (Urban Latin), La Explosion (Flamenco), Alex Etchart (Folk), Ahmed Dickenson (Classical) and Luiz de Almeida (Jazz).

If that wasn’t enough we had a human tower competition courtesy of the London Castellers vs. Paris Castellers, a street parade by Morenada Bloque Kantute Bolovian dance troupe and Marco Santana’s samba batucada, who marched down Crouch End Broadway to the amazement of locals doing their shopping. This was the start of what is today the Big Dance Extravaganza of 500 dance groups that kicks off the festival. 

In the 6 weeks leading up to the day of the festival, we infused the neighbourhood with Latin culture, via workshops and talks in schools and community centres. We sent salsa teachers into schools, organized a free school trip to Lin Manuel Miranda’s ‘In the Heights’, and organised a school assembly talk by the Colombian ambassador.

It was all crazy, and way too much, but it was worth it just for the reaction we got and to see how what we proposed really resonated with Latinos and non-latinos alike. Families were blown away by the colour and creativity, and it was when we realised that everything is about the experience, who needs Shakira when you have mythical Bolivian monsters?

See full 2016 gallery HERE

2017 - EXPECTATIONS TO LIVE UP TO...

The following year, expectations were high but we still had no money.  The public wanted us back. Hornsey had never seen so many Latinos, who came from all over London. Our applications to the Arts Council had failed but there was still pressure to deliver as much as we had the previous year. We were London’s only multi-arts festival dedicated to Latin culture, with an emphasis on supporting home-grown UK-Latin talent and the new bi-cultural generation. Luckily the Mayor of London came up with some dosh, and at the last hour, we were able to go ahead.

Inside the town hall we kicked off with a Copa America, with 10 schools representing different Latin American countries, while parents attended talks and film screenings. Royal Ballet dancer, Fernando Montaño, the first ever Colombian dancer to become principal at the Royal Ballet, had spent 6 weeks in a school teaching kids his ‘Foot-ba’ choreography, based on the moves of famous footballers, to inspire more boys to take up ballet and led the kids to perform it in the square

Time for a Samba extravaganza with Romero’s dancers, then 30 drummers from Haze Samba kids (ages 8 to 14), followed by Tribu samba drummers with the children of Rokesly primary school.

On the main stage, Venezuelan singer song-writer Luzmira Zerpa, was followed by Juanita Euka and a Latin rock band headed by Ecuadorian Carlos Paul, René Alvarez and his salsa band before Grupo Lokito took to the square..

Back inside the Hornsey Town Hall there the dance classes began, while upstairs an older crowd enjoyed Esnayder Cuartas’ fine Latin dining experience. They emerged onto the balcony, like Evita looking down on the spectacle in the main square, before finishing the evening with two after parties inside the Town hall.

FULL 2017 GALLERY HERE

2018 - GOING SOUTH

By now we realised that the beauty of the festival was in the engagement with our audience. Before even it was a thing, an immersive experience was really the best way of summing up what we were doing. We were both representing our community, and also immersing people in Latin culture, who maybe wouldn’t normally go to a Latin event. 

Word was spreading that we were doing something special, and despite the huge effort and sacrifice, and always being skint, this was giving us a massive buzz. We were on a high speed train, going where we didn’t know, but we couldn’t get off. 

The problem was, with Latinos coming from all over London, crowds spilling out into the streets, we were fast growing out of Hornsey. After months looking for another venue, (everything we looked to was too expensive) the Mayor of London kindly offered us the Scoop, which was the stunning bowl scooped out of the ground under the then Town Hall, the egg-shaped building between London and Tower bridges. We were sold; with the beautiful towers on the Thames as backdrop, this was perfect, and closer to much of our core audience. Yup, it was time to go South.

Being in central London attracted people from all over the capital, and our audience doubled. This was the year that the crowd really took over. Omar Puente jumped among the people with his violin and sent everyone crazy, Latin Fun Machine and Yanet Fuentes got the whole 5,000 plus audience line dancing, and the day turned into a full on salsa rave in the middle of the city. It was the only free festival of its nature in the city of London, ever being taken over by commercial events. Never had The Scoop been so alive.

See full 2018 gallery here

2019 - The Year we became a Major Park Festival

With the amazing experience of The Scoop, we were more than hoping to return. Alas, again, we had become a victim of our own success; we’d brought so many people that the bowl was overflowing, and they were scared that even more people would come the following year. We were told we would have to find somewhere else. 

Homeless again, where could we go? With councils now making big bucks hiring their parks out to major festival promoters, pickings were slim. Ah but a stroke of luck…back in Haringey, the Friends of Finsbury Park had told us they were in talks with Haringey Council about being given a day to celebrate the park’s 150th anniversary, could we help them? The very organisation complaining about major events in Finsbury Park wanted LatinoLife in the Park - a free event, accessible to all and loved by those who attend - to help restore the park’s original intention as ‘The People’s Park.’

Only having done 3 years, and still just two of us, we weren’t ready to be a park festival. But offers like this didn’t come every day, surely we couldn’t refuse? And so we went from small community event to major park festival. What an opportunity for us, and more so for our artists, it was what we had worked for, for UK Latin talent to reach audiences they would never normally reach. London was finally to get its first Latin major park festival for years, and for the first time ever, it was UK Latin artists that were headlining.

At 11am on Saturday 1st August 2019, I was standing in an immense empty field, thinking no-one would turn up. By 4 pm I climbed onto stage to witness a sea of people as far as my eyes could see. We had brought together Latinos from all over London, even if this meant putting two warring  food stalls at opposite ends to stop them fighting! 

The best thing was seeing the diverse audiences we were attracting; entire South London Colombian families, abuelos incluídos, picnicking alongside Essex eccentrics in 70s outfits and Hawaiian flowers. We actually put the kids football tournament in the middle of the two stages; toddlers and teenagers battling to the death, while salsa blared and skimpy-clad Brazilian dancers samba-ed around the sidelines.

We saw how audiences embraced the diverse line up…the tango orchestra followed by Latin grime crews were loved and cheered in equal measure. Hungry for exposure, we were delighted and relieved to see how our young urban artists seized the opportunity we’d given them and had the audience eating out of their hands with their energy and swag. We had been coaching many of them in the weeks before to make sure they were performance ready and they did us proud. 

For the first time, young Latinos were performing to almost 40,000 people throughout the day. Nobody wanted to leave; long after the festival was over, security was having to disperse after- parties in the park. Needless to say, this was also the year José ended up in hospital.

Full 2019 gallery here

2020 - AN UNEXPECTED TURN

That was it, once bitten forever smitten. We’d done something we’d never thought possible, to convince both Haringey and Finsbury Park’s anti-event lobbyists that a truly diverse, accessible and joyous major festival was worth keeping. Despite the council’s reservations about opening park gates to the public, they couldn’t ignore the rave reviews that were flooding the internet. 

One said: “It was crazy in the best possible sense; the vibe was super relaxed, and there were things happening everywhere, elders dancing in their traditional costumes, feathered samba dancers edging through the crowd, what looked like just improvised groups of people with a sound system dancing in the middle of the path, and then a football tournament going on right in the middle of it. It was insane and brilliant at the same time.”

Another post simply said: “It made me feel proud to be Latina.”

The reviews were so good that the council couldn’t not have us back, even though they were getting nervous about the numbers of people attending. Then, Bam…Lockdown came. 

By March 2020 we knew that no-one would be doing a festival that year, not even us. Instead we made a film, about how Latinos were coping with the pandemic. We managed with social distancing to get six bands into a studio and weave them into stories of lockdown. In essence we took the festival online and took the opportunity to tell our story. With the help of the Arts Council we were able to keep supporting UK Latin talent throughout the pandemic.

2021 - THE YEAR THAT YOUTH TOOK OVER 

2021 was a really special year for us. Lockdown had given us a welcome break and, finally, the Arts Council was beginning to recognise the work we’d been doing. With a year to come to terms with the fact that we were now a major park festival, we were ready to come back with a bang, and so was London. 

Coming out of lockdown, our weakness became our strength. Not relying on international talent meant that, while most festivals were out for another year, we could produce the festival at short notice. In 2021 LatinoLife in the Park was the only large-scale event happening in London. That  was a very special feeling.You could feel the joy of people coming out of their homes. 

Ambitious as ever, we added an extra stage. One thing that had become clear from 2019 was that the kids representing UK-Urban Latin sound had killed it and were hungry for more. We had drawn a whole new audience of young people. What had been just an Urban Latin showcase within the lineup, now became the first UK festival stage to exclusively feature UK Urban Latin talent. The Candela Stage gave an unprecedented platform to 25 young artists and their unique homegrown genre - fusing UK grime, drill and urban with Latin beats all in our very own London-Spanglish. 

The crowd’s reaction was unbelievable, giving the festival a whole new energy. We could see what a buzz it gave young Latinos both on stage and off. Latin urban artists were on the big stage, like their Afro-Caribbean peers, bringing their communities with them. And the next generation in the audience could see themselves in the future. The kids raved, while mum and dad were at the main stage enjoying René Alvarez’ London Latin Allstars salsa band, a 21-piece band we put together of London’s finest Latin musicians.

This year was the first time we had a proper production team and everything started to feel more professional. No hospital visits this year, only a long drive across London with a car load of stinking garbage, thanks to some misbehaving traders. As we paid the dodgy geezer at his processing plant, it was a reminder that, feeling on top of the world after hosting a 40,000 people rave, there was still the rubbish to take out!

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/gallery/latinolife-park-2021-la-clave-stage

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/gallery/latinolife-park-2021-candela-stage

2022 - The Biggest Latin Show Ever

Having a massive festival within five years was never part of the plan. High off the success of 2021, we got carried away and went for broke…four stages over two days!

There was a new energy that was taking centre stage, and it belonged to young people. This was the future and we responded. Candela Stage became Saturday’s Main Stage. Everyone knew what that meant.

Kids were going to have to grow up. Young gun Angelo Flow was our main man, we’d been nurturing this young Venezuelan rapper and, having gained traction in the club scene, he invited established dancehall and grime artists like J Spades, Sav 12 and Lisa Mercedes, to share the stage.

The crowd reflected this natural alliance between Black British and Latin British; word had spread into deepest Tottenham and the vibe went mental by 7pm. Knowing we would need to calm things down by 10pm, we threw afro beats Cuban funk band Alvarez Funk onto the stage, which was the perfect combination of Afro-Latin flavours for all ages to enjoy.

2022 also meant a Brazil Stage for the first time, a wave of Spanish talent featuring Queralt Lahoz, and a dedicated DJ party stage. The result was another milestone - a two day Latin park festival. By now the LatinoLife in the Park had been voted most inclusive festival in the UK and the Arts Council had invited us to become the UK’s first ever Latina-run National Portfolio Organisation, recognised for bringing artistic excellence to the British public.

Other crazy stuff? Oh yes, Warner studios doing a casting in the middle of the field. They ended up casting the entire warring scene for the Marvel cinematic universe from the festival, including our cleaning staff who pretty much all ended up in the movie.

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/gallery/latinolife-22-highlights

2023 - The year the heavens opened…and we saw angels

This was the year it didn’t just rain, it poured. While Storm Antoni raged on Saturday 5th August, our amazing public accompanied us in the baptism of fire that was our first ever mudfest.

By 2023 we’d moved from Finsbury Park to Walpole Park, due to Haringey telling us that numbers had got too big and we could no longer do an unfenced event. This meant fencing, structures and security that we couldn’t afford as a free event. Ealing in West London came to the rescue with a contribution towards fencing, but it meant our first year as a ticketed event and charging a small fee. 

As it poured and we  were about to open gates for the first time, we were sure it was going to be a catastrophe. But then we saw people, yes, actually queuing in the rain, with their umbrellas. Not only did people turn up, we learned there and then that we had the best audience in the world; loyal, resilient and ready to party no matter what.

What we thought would be a disaster turned into one of the most beautiful experiences of all our 10 years. From welly-clad festival veterans to the sandal-wearing newbies, salsa-dancing in the mud regardless, our beloved Latin ravers did it in style, high on the pure fun of it.

It was as if someone upstairs was looking out for us; not only was it the first ticketed year, which helped save us, it was also the first year we had a big top tent. Love in the rain became drying off dancing apretadito in the tent, just in time for another first…female headliner Lucy Calcines, who sang Selena, salsa tunes and even had her mum on stage. Oh yeah this was the year of the parents on stage, with Adrian Garcia’s bolero singing dad, I mean…it was all so emotional, we had so much fun, and had never seen so much kissing!

The two chance changes, and our incredible audience, helped make one of our most memorable festivals and left us full of gratitude. What started as despair in the morning, ended up  making us feel that nothing can stop us now. Having passed this rite of passage, we really could say that we’d made it as a UK festival!

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/gallery/latinolife-park-2023

2024 -  A Mature Version of Us

As Ealing embraced us, we improved our offer; more stages, more food stalls, more experiences. Now a paid, yet still accessible, festival (with many free and £5 tickets), sales allowed us to prepare better, pay better and deliver an ever more sophisticated and streamlined event.

Falling on Colombian Independence Day, that year we celebrated London’s largest Latin community with Pacific salsa star Jimmy Saa. For me, musically, this was the best show we’d ever had at the festival. But everyone seemed to talk about Classico Latino’s sexy violinist in the red dress who enamoured the audience with her classical take on Latin music, in between the non-stop dance party, fuelled by London's finest reggaeton DJs. We love these kinds of contrasts at LatinoLife in the Park.

This was the year we added our “immersive experiences”, which showed off the culture of a particular country. 'Cuba Linda', hosted by Yanet Fuentes and Lázaro López, transported festival goers to the Latin Caribbean with live rumba music, Cuban percussion and dance workshops. At ¡Viva Mexico! guests soaked up the sounds and spirit of the Mayan nation with mariachis, Lucha Libre wrestlers and folk dancers. That little Mexican bubble in the field was rocking all day long!

It was also the year we really saw how diverse the festival had become. We saw Afro-Caribbean women in traditional head gear, others in head scarves, men in turbans, others baring torsos, dancing to Mexican pop hits. We saw Mexicans and Bolivians dancing to salsa, Argentines and Cubans dancing to samba. The festival had become a joyous gathering of all ages, colours and creeds, making us proud to have one of the most diverse festival audiences in the UK. Seeing the glowing, smiling, laughing crowd dance through the day and night makes all the hard work worthwhile. It was our best festival to date.

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/gallery/latinolife-park-2024

2025 - The Year We Went Pro!

This was the year that the Big Dance Extravaganza dance parade exploded. Over 500 dancers of all ages kicked off the festival in a kaleidoscope of colour, sound and movement, their pride and passion reflected in their incredible costumes.

While every year, we had invited dozens of folk dance groups, this year the combined Andean immersive experience, together with the added folk groups amounted to our biggest dance parade ever. 

What struck us was how many young people formed part of the parade. In an era when everyone is trying to be cool, these teenagers, dressed up as mythical Inca gods, dared to be different, finding a meaningful sense of identity in their roots and heritage. 

This was our most ambitious and successful festival to date - we truly felt we’d matured as a festival, in terms of organisation, having created a great partnership with our friends LGBTQ+ veterans Orange group, who run the logistics and bars (and the Saturday).

It was the year that salsa came back. Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro had just released a salsa track. Not that we needed their permission to bring the music we love - in the form of two salsa headliners Tromboranga and René Alvarez' Tribute to Hector Lavoe - but it didn’t hurt. Also on the main stage: Peru's NovaLima - a fusion of Afro-Peruvian Music and global DJ culture, the wonderful joropo group Zumbao, Mexico’s Mariachi el mexicano featuring Jari Castillo and rising Colombian electro-ambience star Montañera. 

The big top tent was transformed into CLUB VIVA Arena. We noticed ever younger kids hanging at this stage with a level of excitement that was beyond belief. As if they were having their first club experience in a safe environment, dancing like no-one is watching, enjoying the star DJs and lucha libre animations, while their parents were being transported to New York's Golden era at the NYC Salsa 'Immersive Experience’

Finally, this was the year of the food. Every food stand had got to such a high standard; from Argentine asado and Peruvian ceviche to Colombian chicharrón and Mexican mole, the festival has become now the best place to come in London to eat Latin street food at its finest.

And so we are 2026 - the year of international Collaborations

Since it began 10 years ago, LatinoLife in the Park’s growth has mirrored a global cultural phenomenon: Latin Music has gone from being a niche genre to the most consumed music genre in the world, LatinoLife in the Park has grown from an obscure community festival to the UK’s largest Latin Music Festival. We feel we’ve played a little part in something important.

2026 is the biggest year in history for Latin Music. On the global stage, for the first time, a Spanish-language artist is the world's most streamed, performs in Spanish at the Super Bowl, takes the Grammy for best album. In the UK, that same Bad Bunny became the first Spanish-language artist to sell out a stadium, with Karol G becoming the first female stadium artist next year, while Pitbull becomes Hyde Park Festival’s first ever Latin headliner. As for us, as the UK’s only Latina-run NPO and the UK’s only Latin Music Talent Development Partner (TDP), we’ve been given the task of helping to ensure UK-based Latin artists are part of this narrative.

LatinoLife in the Park is not only the best place to discover authentic Latin music, it’s the best place to discover unique homegrown Latin talent right here in the capital. British-Portuguese-Angolan rapper to perform at Feira Preta in Brazil, British-Colombian rapper Broken Pen and Yxng Dave, the two artists we’ve taken to Latin America this year, will play at LatinoLife in the Park in 2026.

At the same time, as we travel internationally with our UK artists and build collaborations in Latin America, we are now bringing more international artists to our festival. This year we have Puerto Rican salsa Legend Rafu Warner whose career spans decades, shaped by his time with Bobby Valentín’s orchestra in New York’s golden era. From Mexico Compania Folklorica de Bernal 30+ artist, extravaganza of music and dance that brings Mexico’s cultural heritage alive and from Argentina, Hernán Jacinto, one of Latin America’s most respected jazz pianists, who revisits the songs of Tango legend Carlos Gardel in Jazz format.

This year you’ll find a mature festival as we enter into the international terrain of facilitating collaborations, building bridges and connecting cultures. Who knows, perhaps one of the UK artists you’ll see at LatinoLife will be the international headliner of tomorrow. The difference is that they’ll be singing in Spanish.

LatinoLife in the Park 2026 celebrates 10 years on Sunday 19th July in Walpole Park, London W5 www.latinolifeinthepark.com