The first annual Salsa Fest takes place from noon to 7 p.m. The event is held by the Lanza group, which has brought Fiesta Atlanta, a Cinco de Mayo celebration to Centennial Park since 2006.
“With ‘Dancing with the Stars’ bringing dancing into people’s awareness, we’ve found that Salsa is hugely popular, especially in Atlanta,” says the Lanza Group’s Katie Anderson. “It’s become more of something that everybody can do. It’s easy and it’s fun.”
The day includes dance performances, lessons and contests. Salsa dance couples recently submitted videos to www.salsafestivalatlanta.com for public voting. The top five couples will be selected to perform for the judges at Sunday’s event. The winning couple gets a free trip to Miami to appear on Telemundo’s dance show, “DesControl.” The top three couples will receive tickets to "Hotlanta Salsa Congress," a three day Salsa event in October. Voting opens Friday, March 19.
Baseball fans should be sure to put their dancing shoes on too. Other prizes throughout the day include tickets to an Atlanta Braves game.
In addition, there will be two live Salsa bands for the crowd to groove to -- Serenata and MaCuba. Serenata is a seven-piece band known for its Latin jazz, Salsa and Merengue. Orquesta MaCuba is a big band led by husband and wife Eddie and Mayi Lopez.
MaCuba is named for Mayi Lopez’s hometown of Matanzas, Cuba. Their first album, “MaCuba Llego,” which means MaCuba has arrived, is due out this spring. (The band also plays on Saturday nights at Midtown’s Loca Luna.)
“The music is extremely high energy,” said Eddie Lopez. “We do a lot of new Salsa out there that people are listening too. And we do a lot of music from the Mambo era of Tito Puente and Celia Cruz.”
If you go
Salsa Fest Atlanta, noon-7 p.m., Sunday. $10. ($15 admission includes a ticket to an Atlanta Braves game). Turner Field, 755 Hank Aaron Drive, Atlanta. 404-350-0200, www.salsafestivalatlanta.com.
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