The Southern Virginia Latino Association will host the seventh annual Festival Latino of Southern Virginia on Saturday at Patrick & Henry Community College to celebrate Hispanic culture.
The festival will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, featuring authentic Latino food and music. The festival will also give attendees the opportunity to learn more about local resources through about 40 vendors, and there will be games, dancers and face painting.
Festival Latino of Southern Virginia comes just after the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The area plans to celebrate big with the festival, which had about 850 attendees last year and brought in more than $9,000, said Eli Salgado, the executive director of the association.
Martinsville has one of the highest Hispanic population percentages in all of Southwest and Southside Virginia — behind Galax, which has a Hispanic population of more than 14%, according to U.S. Census data. Henry County has the highest percentage across counties in the region.
The Hispanic population has grown by more than 2,300 people over the past 25 years, while the overall population in Martinsville-Henry County has decreased by more than 10,000 people, according to U.S. Census data.
In 2000, the Hispanic population made up 2.3% of the population in Martinsville, and now the Hispanic population has risen to make up 10% of the population. That is about double the percentage of the Hispanic population in Danville or Lynchburg. Henry County’s Hispanic population grew from 3.5% in 2000 to 7.9% in 2025.
Salgado said he thinks the prominence of the manufacturing industry in Martinsville and Henry County has increased the Latino population, as well as ties of familiarity. Once one person or family moves here, others want to move to where they already know someone.
The idea of a group for the Latino community first began in 2013 when Salgado told his story to community members at an Organizing for Action event in Rocky Mount as a “dreamer,” someone brought to the United States as a child under the federal DREAM Act, short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. He then decided to create MHC Dreamers, an activism group for immigrants.
The group began Latino community meetings and saw a greater need for bridging the gap between resources and the Latino community. In 2016, with a new administration, the group was skeptical and fearful, Salgado said, so it changed its name to the Southern Virginia Latino Association. In 2018, the group became a nonprofit organization completely based on volunteers and has continued since without any paid staff.
Now, it helps the growing Latino community connect with resources and take advantage of local opportunities. There are three teams within the organization: personal professional development, health and well-being, and government and legal navigation.
The organization is a diverse group of people, Salgado said, including non-Latinos who are passionate about the community.
Courtney Younger originally got involved with the association because she wanted to contribute to bettering the community and help bridge the divide she saw between different groups in the area.
“It’s just a big part of my heart,” Younger said.
Younger works in healthcare and is able to bring her expertise to the health and well-being team, helping the Latino community navigate healthcare.
