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Copyright 2007 The Miami Herald All Rights Reserved
The Miami Herald
March 12 2007 Monday
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 568 words,
HEADLINE: Calle Ocho festival turns up the heat; About a million
people poured into
Little Havana on Sunday for the 29th annual Calle Ocho festival,
hailed as the nation's
biggest street fest.
BYLINE: ALDO NAHED, [email protected]
BODY:
Nanette Molina, of Pembroke Pines, came to Calle Ocho Sunday on
a mission: to join the
world's largest aerobics exercise known as Zumba.
By 3 p.m., it was hard to tell whether Molina and more than 100
of her fellow Zumba
instructors succeeded in signing up the required tens of
thousands to break the record in the
number of participants in the high-energy aerobics workout.
The current record was set in the Philippines on Feb. 16, 2003,
when at least 48,000 people
simultaneously exercised at Manila Luneta Park. Whether Miami
broke that record won't be
known for days -- until organizers count the signatures of Calle
Ocho Zumba participants.
''Our concern is to win,'' said Molina, 27, a first-time Calle
Ocho reveler, who helped collect
signatures for the Zumba party from among thousands -- many of
them tipsy and lightly
dressed.
The Zumba was a highlight of this year's Calle Ocho event,
billed as the nation's largest street
festival.
A sea of people danced along 23 blocks of Southwest Eight Street
and in front of 24 stages
pumping Latin and Caribbean rhythms.
Olga Merediz, 82, of Hialeah, embarrassed her niece, Kimberly,
27, as she danced up a storm
in front of a stand hawking salsa CDs.
''I can't get her to stop,'' Kimberly said, her arms crossed in
mock frustration.
Nearby, a Canadian couple from Quebec sat on a bus bench to
catch their breath. They were
going to drop off a bag of free goodies in their car and then
return to the festivities.
''The smell of the food, the Latin culture, it's all so
wonderful,'' said Gilles Robert.
''He likes to see the nice young girls,'' added his wife,
Ginette Brub.
He didn't disagree.
For Kiwanis of Little Havana, which started the annual party in
1978, the 29th edition was
another hit, said Sylvia Vieta, the group's spokeswoman.
She estimated Sunday's crowd at about a million people.
Participating performers included
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Willy Chirino, Oscar de Len, Albita Rodrguez and Frankie Negrn
and groups like Conjunto
Progresso and Shela y su Chekere.
''It unites the Latino culture,'' said Eddy Leal, a marketing
manager for Budweiser, of the
performers on his stage.
Miami City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, who has taken part in the
festival for 20 years, hung
out at the Miccosukee stage to hear salsa artist Roberto
Torres.
Later, Sanchez led the crowd in a 10-minute Zumba exercise.
''He's a good performer, he does it well,'' said Sanchez of
Torres. ``It's great to see all the
people wearing their country's flag and walking around.''
There was no shortage of Latin food: Peruvian ceviche,
picarones, empanadas, yuca, tostones
and chicharrn, along with traditional carnival food. The
sponsors at the event ranged from
energy drinks to everyday household products. People lined up to
get free samples and fill out
forms for a chance to win prizes.
At a Sensodyne makeshift spa tent, people got a massage while a
dental hygienist talked
about their teeth.
There were also booths with messages on AIDS awareness and
immigration reform.
Jos Lagos, head of Honduran Unity, said he collected 5,000
signatures and gave out 10,000
handouts with information on the possible rewrite of immigration
laws.
Since 1992, Jos Nery Garcia, of Cape Coral, brought his family
to Calle Ocho. On Sunday he
got a nifty Florida Lotto bag for purchasing $20 worth of
scratch-off tickets.
''We'll stay until they kick us out,'' he said, cringing at the
thought of having to go back to
work today.
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