LatinaFest is back and bigger this time around to empower and uplift Latinas

LatinaFest is back for its seventh annual outdoor event, bringing together the most powerful and influential Latinas for an all-day event of panels, vendors, food, activities and much more.

For the first time, the festival will be held at Gloria Molina Grand Park on Sunday, June 1. LatinaFest was created to empower and uplift the Latina community all while promoting diversity, inclusivity and amplifying the Latina voice. 

In recent years, the event took place at LA Plaza de Culturas y Artes, but to accommodate a larger crowd and offer improved parking, co-founders Bel Hernandez Castillo and Naibe Reynoso decided it was time for a new location. “We know that Gloria Molina Grand Park is an iconic area and also part of our legacy because it was created thanks to the supervisor, Gloria Molina, who was Mexican American,” said Reynoso.

Reynoso is a Mexican American multi-Emmy award-winning journalist. She is also a speaker, author and co-founder of the events company Latinafest LLC, which has produced over a dozen successful events in the Los Angeles area. Currently, she is an anchor and reporter for LA County Channel and producer and host for their Emmy-nominated show, “El Condado con Tigo.” In 2018 she also created Con Todo Press, a company that publishes books to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities.

Hernandez Castillo is the founder and CEO of Latin Heat Media, a multi-media company that includes a news and entertainment website, and co-founder and host of  “TheTRENDTalk TV” show, which currently airs on the local L.A. MeTV station, Facebook Watch, IGTV and YouTube. Castillo is also known as “The Godmother of Latino Hollywood,” a term coined by Moviemaker Magazine for her work in helping expand the presence of Latino filmmakers in the 90s, which she continues to this date.

“This year’s festival theme is ‘Legacy,’” said Hernandez Castillo. She explained that they chose the theme as a way to stand strong against the recent wave of hate directed toward the Latino community.

“There's so much that we have contributed to this country and it's our legacy that has built this country and our legacy started with some people who never left. We've always been here, so we wanted to make sure that we honor our ancestors and honor our parents and generations that have come before us,” she said.

The outdoor festival is a celebration of Latina unity, welcoming women who are bilingual, bicultural and multi-generational. It also aims to create an inclusive space for Latinas of all ages and backgrounds—whether single, married or anywhere along life’s journey.

This year's LatinaFest will include an area called “Pláticas,” which is going to be an intimate space with speakers that will talk about a variety of topics every hour. 

They have also incorporated different workshops such as candle making and a loteria-themed vision board. Reynoso said that they're in the works about including a cacao ceremony workshop as well in the workshop area. “That's something new and we're excited about it because we really want to make LatinaFest very interactive. We want to have different things and opportunities for people to experience. Whatever it is that they want to experience that day, whether it's learning how to make a candle that smells like horchata or having a reiki session or a limpia.”

LatinaFest will spotlight speakers who are driving change through their “movement platforms”—Latinas who have pursued their entrepreneurial dreams, launched culturally relevant businesses to uplift their communities, and broken barriers along the way.

Now more than ever, Hernandez Castillo believes that this festival is needed for the Latinas. “We need to stand up for each other, and we need to present a united front,” she said. Our mission is to bring us all together because that's where we find the power. The women that come to LatinaFest and even the men that join the event can also see the power and they see that we want to connect and I think that's happening on various different fronts.”

To purchase presale tickets and check out the full schedule of activities, visit latinafest.com.

When: Sunday,  June 01, 2025

Time: 11:00 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Location: Gloria Molina Grand Park, 200 North Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012