Goal of Fiestas Patrias
As the Fiestas Patrias Committee our objective is to offer the Latin American community an opportunity to share and celebrate its Independence day in a cultural and festive environment. In response to this objective, we prepared an array of multicultural professional entertainment with some of the best local performers. Other activities include cultural events such as an exhibition of ethnic garments and crafts. In addition to entertainment, we also will have various organizations geared towards helping the public, specifically the Latino community. Such organizations include La Casa de Artes, the Mexican Consulate, the Comite Chileno, Seattle Public Library, University of Washington and many more.

Festival History
The Fiestas Patrias festival has been celebrated in Seattle for the past 17 years. The festival started out as a small civil and religious activity organized by the Mexican community. The purpose of the festival was to celebrate Mexico's independence from Spain. This event was celebrated by the calling out of each of the heroes playing a role in the Mexican Independence, followed by food and music. One of the most significant customs was for whomever was directing the ceremony to call out the patriotic yell "Viva Mexico!" to which everyone would reply in a loud voice "Viva!".

With the passing of time the festival became a celebration of not only Mexico's Independence but also that of other Latin American countries whose movement for independence is coincident. This celebration became even more significant with the United States government's naming of September as Hispanic Heritage month a few years ago. For this reason Fiestas Patrias has become one of the most significant celebrations in the Latino community.