On Saturday, October 8, 2022, Houston Botanic Garden will host the first annual Poder Hispano Hispanic Heritage Month event celebrating Houston’s diverse and growing Latino community. The full-day event is family friendly and open to the public, and will feature fun activities, access to the Houston Botanic grounds, as well as interactive booths hosted by local organizations and small business vendors.

“Our Latino community here in Houston is one of the most diverse in the country, and we also pride ourselves in striving for unity and common ground – often through our culture and shared language,” said Carolina Arenas, founder of the Poder Hispano event. “Poder Hispano is filling a gap during Hispanic Heritage Month by creating a family-friendly space where parents and children can come together to celebrate the beauty and richness of our own cultures and shared experiences.”

Poder Hispano will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Houston Botanic Garden – located at 1 Botanic Lane, Houston, Texas 77017. Tickets to attend are $10 for adults. Children can attend free of cost. Event sponsors include H-E-B, Geico Insurance, Telemundo Houston, HTX Art Bus, Digi Clicks LLC, Evangeline Event Designs, and Meraki Wayuu.

Families in attendance will be able to participate in kids’ cultural arts activities, enjoy a variety of music and folkloric presentations, as well as foods from several Latin American countries, and be able to shop from local Latino-owned businesses.

Arenas is also the founder and owner of the handmade artisanal bags and accessories brand known as Meraki Wayuu. The Houston-based Meraki Wayuu brand sources its products from the Wayuu Tribe of La Guajira, Colombia. Its mission is to empower artisans in underserved communities and to raise multicultural awareness about the Wayuu Tribe.

About Poder Hispano:

Poder Hispano is an annual Hispanic Heritage Month family-friendly event hosted by Meraki Wayuu in celebration of Houston’s diverse and growing Latino community. The family-friendly event features interactive activities and participation from local organizations and Latino-owned small businesses, as well as in-culture, in-language festivities.

Meraki Wayuu is the Houston-based handmade artisanal bags and accessories brand that sells handmade items from the Wayuu Tribe of La Guajira, Colombia. Its mission is to empower artisans in underserved communities, to raise multicultural awareness about the Wayuu Tribe, and to promote social justice and cultural preservation through economic fair trade. The Greek word meraki means to do something with soul, creativity and love. Meraki Wayuu mirrors this definition by making sure the story and uniqueness behind each item it sells is valued and preserved. The store can be viewed online at merakiwayuu.com and followed on Instagram.