Salsa on the Square returned to Adams County on Friday evening, and after the event had been cancelled three years in a row due to COVID-19, a fun night of celebration was the perfect way to mark the comeback.
The festival, which has been a yearly tradition for the people of Adams County and signifies the celebration of LatinX heritage among the community, was held on Carlisle Street in front of the Gettysburg Majestic Theater.
Antoni Esquivias, an organizer of this year’s Salsa on the Square and a Gettysburg College student, said the Salsa is a chance to celebrate heritage and have fun at the same time. “Salsa on the Square is a celebration of the LatinX culture across Adams County,” Esquivias said. “It’s a big thing for the people here, and other than that there’s food and music and it’s just a really good time.
Bigger and Better
Esquivias said that the event was bigger and better in 2022, as a way to make up for the several years that Adams County had to go without the event.
“We’re definitely trying to make it bigger than past years,” Esquivias said. “We had a full dance group coming in from Philadelphia and we’re cooperating with Waldo’s and Company on their ‘Heads and Tails Experience’.
“The event also provides exposure and attention to the people of this community that sometimes get overlooked. It means a lot,” Esquivias said. “I think it gives us some sort of recognition for all the hard work for being more of the unrecognized part of the community that keeps Gettysburg together.”
The three years away from the Salsa gave everyone more time to plan for it and has built another level of excitement for the event, and the events to come. “It brings me a lot of joy to see it coming back after three years off. It felt like there was something missing and now it’s back and it’s really exciting,” said Esquivias.
A Family Tradition
Many Adams County families have attended Salsa on the Square with their children, and now their children are going themselves. Esquivias said he had been going to the salsa since he was a kid. “I grew up just outside the Gettysburg area. I remember coming to Salsa on the Square when I was a kid. It was always a big deal and I would have a great time.”
Even older children are enjoying the salsa, with many students from Gettysburg High School and Gettysburg College in attendance.
“Even when I was in high school I would go,” Esquivias said. “My friends and I would go together and we’d dance the night away.”
Bringing the Salsa back
In terms of getting the event back on, Esquivias said it was a formailty that Salsa on the Square was going to continue after COVID-19. “I think it was kind of a given that we were going to bring it back,” Esquivias said. “It’s such a beloved and important event to the Gettysburg community. We were just waiting for COVID to die down and for it to be safe for everyone to be outside and get together.”
I am a junior at Gettysburg College. I was born in London, England, and now live in New York. I've always had a passion for journalism and my grandad was a journalist in New York City -- I want to do the same thing with sports journalism and analytics.