By Vicky Diaz-Camacho – FlatlandKC.org – Photo: Vicky Diaz-Camacho | Flatland.

Photo: A boy sips a Sprite while taking a break during the Latino Arts Festival.

This fusion took center stage at the Latino Arts Festival on Saturday. Horses nodded and pranced to the beat of banda on the grassy side of Bethany Park in Kansas City, Kansas. Lowriders lined the street close by, hoods agape, chrome shining and oldies blaring in the background. Spectators escaped the heat beneath blue and white canopies that dotted the park. Mariachis strummed their guitars and singers crooned their version of “Juana la Cubana,” made popular by the ’80s Mexican cumbia musician Fito Olivares.

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