Ohio Latinx Festivals Create New Publics

A study of ten Latinx festivals across six cities in Ohio in 2017 that examines how these seemingly ephemeral events contest dominant whiteness and claim space for Latinxs through the negotiation of local and national contexts to create venues for cultural expression, social cohesion, political participation, and inter-ethnic collaboration. This analysis examines the significance of ethnic/national heterogeneity among Ohio Latinx populations at these events as well as Latinx creation of alternative public spaces for a variety of Latinx communities. Researchers employ a combination of participant observation, interview sampling of participants at Latinx festivals, and close reading of visual, sonic, and textual festival materials to locate these acts of Latinx placemaking in Ohio.