Pupusas, from an unknowing perspective, look like a cross between pita bread, mini quesadillas and Smucker’s Uncrustables sandwiches. They are—of course—none of these. Pupusas are thick, handmade corn tortillas often filled with meat and cheese, grilled and then topped with curtido, which is a kind of cabbage slaw. They are a traditional Salvadorian and Honduran food, common in Latin America but almost impossible to find here in St. Louis. The exception would be the family-run Honduran stall run by Manuel, Armando, Velezca and Maida at the Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival, the annual festival celebrating Hispanic culture that took place this past weekend in Soulard Park. The family is from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and has been serving pupusas, arroz con pollo, tamales and more at the festival for over eight years.

The goal of the St. Louis Greater Hispanic Festival was largely focused on community building and celebration, and the funds raised during the festival will go to scholarships for college-bound students and underserved children.

“We have a vibrant and growing Hispanic population,” Mayor Francis Slay said in a short speech at the welcome ceremony. “We’re proud to be a city that is very welcoming to all.”

Although there were a variety of activities at the event, one of its major focuses was on the food.

Alberto De La Rosa | Student Life

Merchandise booths selling items representative of Latin American countries were among the most popular spots at the festival.

Here’s a surprise for your stereotypical unenlightened writer: “Hispanic” food is about as broad a genre as “European” or “Asian.” Even at the bottom of the bottleneck that condenses national cuisine into four or five festival kiosk offerings, there’s a great deal of diversity to be found. One Mexican stall at the festival had quesadillas, tostadas and flautas; another served only burritos. An Argentinian stall had meat, spinach, cheese and corn empanadas—which are stuffed breads that kind of look like mini calzones. A Peruvian stand had—among other offerings—ceviche, which is a fish and shrimp dish with a lime cocktail and sweet potatoes and corn. There are also stalls for Belizean meals, Dominican delicacies and more.

For many of these families and groups running the stands, this festival is one of the biggest moments in the year to showcase homemade cooking to a public audience. Frank and Lida at the Dominican stall have been coming for 11 years. Another restaurant, Delicias Mexicanas, drives down from Chicago every year just for this three-day festival. They used to do four festivals in St. Louis: this one, the Fiesta in Florissant festival in June, the Festival of Nations in Tower Grove in August and the city’s Cinco de Mayo celebration on Cherokee Street. Now, they only do the Hispanic Festival and the Fiesta in Florissant festival, but want to get into more again. Marco, Laura and Eric work the Peruvian stall and would like to open a food truck or small restaurant, but the opportunity hasn’t yet arisen. Marisol runs a clothing booth that features handmade pants, bags and ponchos brought all the way from Ecuador.

The festival is kind of a constant for a lot of the groups here, and so, as expected, politicians were in attendance. During the welcome ceremony on Saturday, Democrat Robin Smith, former news anchor and reporter for St. Louis’ CBS affiliate, took the stage to campaign, as she’s running for Missouri secretary of state.

She stated that Jay Ashcroft, the Republican candidate, “wants to get rid of voters that look like you and me.” Ashcroft supports voter ID measures, according to his campaign website.

Even though there was a lonely Republican stand with Donald Trump-Mike Pence signs, among others, Smith’s comments were about as partisan as things got—which was a bit of a preemptive relief leading up to the second presidential debate Washington University will host on Oct. 9. Two of the attendants at the Republican tent, Robert J. Crump for state representative and John N. Castellano III for St. Louis sheriff, expressed reservations about the debate but only relating to increased deputy duties that weekend. Someone at the Laborers’ International Union of North America said, “Don’t know what they’d say here. Build a wall?” But he did so in a lighthearted way, making fun, rather than fire, out of the situation.

Overall, the Hispanic Festival was a chance to celebrate outside of the gloomy shadow of politics. The mechanical bull ran daily and slowly for the youngest children, and the petting zoo offered piglets and goats, a camel and an inexplicable turtle. It was so hot that no one felt bad about spending a couple bucks on cups of 50-cent lemonade. There was salsa lessons and dancing from 10 in the morning to 10 at night. A low-rider car cruise on Sunday bookmarked the festival, along with the Carnival party on Friday in honor of the Olympics and Brazilian heritage.

Though it’s hard to find pupusas in the city, the Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival offered a chance to celebrate a shared, but also diverse, heritage.