Greenville's Hispanic Heritage Festival is trading its longtime outdoor home for one of the biggest stages in the Upstate. On September 13, the Asociación Hispano-Americana de Mujeres will host the 28th annual event at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville, running from noon to 6 p.m., with admission set at $5 at the door and free entry for children 7 and under.
The move marks a significant step up for the nonprofit, also known as AHAM, which for years held the festival at Fluor Field before organizers moved the festival to a larger venue, according to Greenville Journal. Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which opened in downtown Greenville in 1998, seats up to 15,000 spectators, according to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena's Wikipedia entry. AHAM board member Patricia McDaniel said the festival shows the beauty of the Hispanic community and the many cultures that have come together to make the Upstate stronger, the outlet reports. According to the City of Greenville, publicly funded improvements were designed to link Bon Secours Wellness Arena more directly to downtown, with the project estimated to be completed by the end of 2025.
McDaniel added that festival attendees will see the community's colors, hear its music, taste its food and experience its traditions. She said she hopes the larger venue will allow more families to enjoy the event, per the same account. This year's festival celebrates 20 Hispanic cultures through traditional food, music and dancing, according to the report.
A Community Outgrowing Its Old Venue
The relocation tracks with demographic shifts across the region. Greenville County holds the largest total Hispanic population of any county in South Carolina, with Hispanic residents making up approximately 11.6% of the county's total population, or more than 63,000 people, according to data from the National Institutes of Health's HDPulse Data Portal. Statewide, Hispanic residents account for roughly 7.4% of South Carolina's population, or nearly 390,000 people, per the same source.
Beth Paul, whose team helps organize the event, said her group was excited to help bring the festival to life on a larger scale, the article notes. Paul added that she wants a continued, longstanding relationship with AHAM to make higher education a reality for more students. That mission sits at the center of what the festival is really funding.
Scholarships Tied to the Festival's Growth
AHAM was born in Greenville in 1999 and is dedicated to expanding higher education access for Hispanic students through scholarships, according to the organization's own about page. In May, AHAM awarded $75,000 in scholarships to 12 students, and over the past 28 years the organization has awarded a cumulative $712,000 in scholarships to more than 220 students, the Greenville Journal reports. Festival proceeds have a direct impact on local Hispanic students, according to the outlet.
One of this year's scholarship recipients, salutatorian Elvis Oliver, received a $10,000 scholarship from AHAM, and was highlighted by Legacy Early College community ambassador LaCheryl Coleman. Legacy Early College, a festival sponsor, is a public charter school serving Pre-K through 12th grade founded in 2009 that reports a 97% college acceptance rate among its graduating seniors, according to the school's own materials. Colón Law Firm and Armada Law also sponsor this year's festival, per the report.
What to Expect at the Arena
Past editions of the festival featured cultural booths representing 15 countries, along with interactive passports that let children collect stamps as they learned about traditions, music and regional foods, according to coverage from Clemson University's student newspaper, The Tiger. This year's festival has grown along with the community, the Greenville Journal notes, and organizers say more information is available at ahamsc.org/hhf.
The festival's new venue and expanded scale arrive as broader organizations continue building infrastructure for Greenville's Spanish-speaking residents. The Hispanic Alliance, formed in Greenville more than 15 years ago, works to coordinate community support systems and build bridges for the Upstate's growing Spanish-speaking population, according to the Greenville Journal's separate reporting. Together, groups like AHAM and the Hispanic Alliance reflect how the Upstate's Hispanic community has expanded its institutional footprint alongside its population growth.
