Macon held its fifth annual Hispanic Festival on Cherry Street Plaza Saturday, featuring live performances, community outreach programs and vendors to showcase the Hispanic community of Macon-Bibb. Since its founding in 2022, Macon-Bibb’s Hispanic Festival has continued to grow, drawing increasingly diverse crowds to celebrate Hispanic culture. “More and more people are part of it, especially non-Hispanics,” Ana Hernandez, a founding member of the Macon-Bibb Hispanic Festival Committee, said. “We love that because that means we’re making an impact in other cultures, and people are embracing our culture.” Hernandez noted an increase in non-Hispanic attendees alongside a decline in Hispanic participation. “For the last few years, we saw a little bit of a decline in the Hispanics and an increase in the Americans, because of the fear of immigration,” she said. The shift comes amid concerns about immigration enforcement in Georgia. A UnidosUS poll found that 39% of surveyed Latino voters in the state feared arrest by immigration authorities, even with citizenship or legal status. Nationally, an Urban Institute survey found that 9% of immigrant families avoided religious services or community events because of immigration concerns. Representatives from two local organizations providing insurance and housing-related services described difficulties assisting Hispanic families, citing fear and distrust as barriers to community outreach. “80% of my customers are Hispanic,” said…
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