🌎 Resumen en español · traducción automática
En Clarksburg, West Virginia, se celebró la segunda edición anual de Fiesta Hispana en septiembre de 2025 para conmemorar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana, con actividades que incluyeron clases de salsa, vendedores de comida local y presentaciones de danzas tradicionales como la cueca chilena. Aunque la población hispana representa solo el 2% de West Virginia en comparación con el 19,5% a nivel nacional, la comunidad local se reunió en gran número para celebrar sus culturas y tradiciones. El evento fue organizado por Conexión Hispana, un grupo comunitario con sede en el condado de Harrison cuya misión es empoderar a la comunidad hispana a través de educación, recursos y eventos culturales.
Traducción y resumen generados por IA a partir del artículo en inglés. Puede contener errores; consulte el texto original.
Editor’s note: Some interviews for this article were originally conducted in Spanish and translated to English by Clara Haizlett.
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed nationwide every September and October, celebrating the cultures and contributions of the Hispanic community in the United States. Last fall, the town of Clarksburg, West Virginia celebrated their second annual Fiesta Hispana in recognition of the month.
Papel picado swung from the rafters of the large outdoor pavilion, food trucks lined the street, and a dance instructor was leading a group through the basic steps of salsa.
“Ahora, vuelta!” the instructor called out, directing the students to turn, keeping in time with the rhythm of the music.
Under the pavilion, rows of local food vendors were set up, selling everything from arepas to horchata. The event was crowded with people, many sporting patriotic attire—a Peruvian soccer jersey, a Venezuelan flag dress, and a Puerto Rican flag styled like a Superman cape. When it’s Hispanic Heritage Month in Harrison County, folks show up in a big way.
Across the U.S., the Hispanic population makes up 19.5% of the total population, making it the largest minority group in the country. West Virginia’s Hispanic community, however, accounts for just 2% of the state’s population, with communities scattered across the state.
“We are pretty spread out, but when we have events like these, we come together as a community,” said Elisabet Kirk, one of the event organizers.
Conexión Hispana
Kirk is vice president of a community group called Conexión Hispana or “Hispanic Connection,” the organization behind the annual event. A grassroots organization based in Harrison County, Kirk said their mission is to empower the Hispanic community in the area—through education, resources, and cultural events.
Originally from Lima, Peru, Kirk has lived in West Virginia for the past nine years, working as a registered nurse.
“I can tell you personally, when I moved here for the first time, I felt very isolated,” Kirk said. “I felt like I was pretty much the only brown person around.”
Despite those initial feelings of isolation, she said she’s been welcomed by the community in West Virginia. In turn, she’s eager to share her culture with her non-Hispanic neighbors.
“I am proud to be from Peru and to be Hispanic,” Kirk said. “That’s something that we want to share with everybody around us that even though we may be different, we are proud of who we are.”
Local Teenagers Experience Language and Cultural Immersion
Blanca Skaggs is the secretary of Conexión Hispana and a public school teacher at Grafton High School. A native of Venezuela, she’s been teaching Spanish in Taylor County for 24 years.
For Skaggs, Fiesta Hispana is an opportunity to share her love for language and culture beyond the classroom. Several of Skaggs’ students performed during the event, including a former student who performed the traditional Mexican song “La Llorona.” Skaggs coached her through the melancholic melody, making sure to get the Spanish pronunciation just right.
Another group of students danced the Jarabe Tapatío, a folk dance which originated in Guadalajara, Mexico, known as the national dance of Mexico. Since Skaggs is from Venezuela, a friend from Mexico helped her teach the dance to her students. Skaggs says it’s important to introduce students not only to her Venezuelan culture, but to the breadth of diversity within the Hispanic community.
“For me it has been amazing to teach these students my culture and the cultures of the twenty-one countries where Spanish is spoken,” Skaggs said.
Skaggs pointed out two of her students who performed in the dance, Jaylin Summers and Anna Poling. Members of the Spanish Honors Society, both Summers and Poling have been studying Spanish for six years.
“It’s fun because I can learn a lot and I can use it [Spanish] in college and in the world,” Poling said. She plans to use Spanish in her future career as a music therapist.
Skaggs said many of her students don’t have the opportunity to leave West Virginia. Yet through her immersion-style classes, many of her students graduate bilingual, without ever having left the country. In 2024, 20 of Skaggs’ students at Grafton High School received the West Virginia Seal of Biliteracy, including both Summers and Poling.
“I always feel blessed by my students because they are always curious; they always want to learn,” Skaggs said. “It’s like opening their eyes to the world.”
The strength and success of Skaggs’ language program at Grafton High School is somewhat unique in West Virginia. According to a 2025 study at Fairmont State University, K-12 language programs are consistently underfunded throughout the state, with several counties facing Spanish teacher shortages year after year. The study found that there is a “glaring need for change at the systemic level to education policy and implementation” in order to improve access and quality of foreign language education in the state.
Working On The Local Level
For Monsignor Paul Hudock, a local minister, learning Spanish has been instrumental in building cross-cultural relationships in his church congregation.
“In the process of learning the language, you build the friendships, you start talking about life, and then you can really help each other with what’s going on,” Hudock said.
Hudock is the head of Hispanic ministry at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He has been ministering in West Virginia for 29 years, but in the past few years he took notice of the growing Hispanic population in the state. He decided to learn Spanish so he could better connect with the community, and since then, he’s been leading Mass in Spanish every Sunday in both Morgantown and Clarksburg.
“When we started offering the Mass consistently every Sunday in Spanish, we just discovered a lot of people,” Hudock said. “It’s been a great joy because we have seen the communities grow…It’s exciting to see these families become part of this community.”
Members in Hudock’s congregation come from all over Central and South America.
“My hope is that we can create a story here in Clarksburg and in central West Virginia, where we welcome the immigrants into our communities, where they can become part of our churches, part of our schools, part of our businesses,” he said. “We have to work on the local level, you know, it’s kind of a Catholic idea of subsidiarity, doing what we can right where we are.”
Community Persists Amidst A Difficult Year
In the months following last year’s Fiesta Hispana, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids swept through West Virginia, including the small community of Clarksburg.
During a 15-day period in January 2026 called “Operation Country Roads,” an estimated 593 people were arrested. According to a report by Dragline and the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia (ACLU-WV), 76% of those arrested had no criminal record.
Despite these challenges, Conexión Hispana has continued to provide support and resources for the community, both locally and statewide. Organizers are already gearing up for the next Fiesta Hispana, which will be held October 11, 2026, at Jackson Square in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
This article is part of Living Traditions, a multimedia project about folklife in central Appalachia. In this series, we bring you an assortment of stories about traditional cultural practices, both time-honored and emergent. Read more Living Traditions.
This article is part of the Living Traditions project, featuring an assortment of stories and podcasts about folklife in central Appalachia.
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The post A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage in Clarksburg, West Virginia appeared first on The Daily Yonder.
