In the heart of London, Ont. (Downtown) culture, celebrations, ethnicities, food, languages, and networking are in one place: Casa Latina, which is a project from Culturx; the non-profit organization that was born back in March 2020 in the Middle of the Pandemic. Daniella Quiñones who was born in Colombia and was raised in Canada since she was a kid, and David Ayala, a Salvadoran who loves entrepreneurship and pupusas (a traditional dish from his country) are its creators.
Casa Latina is not only for Latinos. Everyone’s welcome: Canadians who are interested in Latin culture, also first-generation kids who are the children of Latinos who migrated to London and who’ve never been exposed to the Latin culture or want to reconnect with their roots at the same time. In addition, it is a location for those Latinos who have recently migrated and they’re homesick.
“We try to reach the best live music scene that we have in downtown London, for example, Orlando Valencia orchestra which is three generations of Latin family that is here in London,” says David Ayala, Co-founder of Casa Latina.
(´Agraciadas´event. Credit: Casa Latina)
Lover´s Night (Valentine´s Day commemoration), Night of boleros, and Impro (standup comedy show) were some of its first events in February. So far ´Agraciadas´ has been the one with the most attendance (60 people), with a full house.
The Spanish-speaking Circle is a project that has been running for about 3 years. Previously, in the London Public Library with Culturx brand, and since the launch of Casa Latina, on February 2024, it offers conversation workshops every Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m.
“Through this project, we bridge different languages between groups specifically English and Spanish. We host it here and essentially allows us to have a cultural exchange to be speaking immersively and it’s great because people tell their experiences and get to practice their spoken Spanish or even just become more bilingual by listening,” says Daniella Quiñones, Co-founder.
Those who attend this cultural home also can organize their own events, for instance, if someone wants to have a themed celebration of their country, they can do so or private festivities such as birthday or wedding parties, ´quinceañeras´ (15th birthday party for girls) or any occasion related to culture or get-togethers the public need.
(Pupusas workshop. Credit: Casa Latina)
To maintain traditions and customs, as well as learn about the gastronomy of Latin America, pupusas preparation workshops have been held.
“Diversity is essential to the London community; we are experiencing a lot of growth in our ethnic communities, we’re seeing a lot more richness and depth, and it’s also essential to speak about Latinos in London: we’ve been here for over 50 years now, so it’s about time that we had a space that was dedicated to our celebration to our culture and community especially because we need to have that representation and belonging,” adds Daniella Quiñones.
Statistics Canada shows Latin community in London, On., has grown to 13,000. It could be more since there are no records since 2021. Casa Latina, through its co-founders, seeks to build unity, social fabric, and culture so that the inhabitants create better sociocultural relationships and take advantage of their ventures, passions, and talents.
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