More than 100 people braved the heat and wind to show up for the first Cultural Fiesta in West End Park on Sunday.

Organizers Marshalltown Arts and Culture Alliance Executive Director Amber Danielson and experience committee member Wendy Soltero were happy with the number of people who appeared. They managed to create the event in three weeks.

“The turn out’s been great,” Danielson said. “The kids were all over the pinatas. It’s been fun. I think we had about 50 kids trying to get all the candy.”

She said Zamora’s Fresh Market was the business that supplied three traditional pinatas for the event.

Soltero was very pleased to see the youth come together, covering a wide diverse population.

“That’s special,” she said. “I wanted to have that diversity — all backgrounds, all the different people come together and just enjoy, have a good time and experience. We are so lucky to have such diversity in our town that we don’t have to leave to travel.”

Danielson said Soltero was the person who spearheaded the Cultural Fiesta. Soltero said the Sunday event turned out exactly how she envisioned, and was able to highlight the diversity of Marshalltown.

They hope to make the event larger in coming years, with more varied cultural aspects thrown in. Danielson said she would like to include the growing Burmese population.

“This was a trial run put together quickly,” she said. “I hope this can grow and see more celebrations of the cultures in Marshalltown. This is just one of the many cultures in our community we want to celebrate. This is the kickoff and we will see where it goes from here.”

Soltero said they would like to work with other organizations to make the Cultural Fiesta even bigger.

A big aspect of the event was the music, provided by Los De La Villa of Tama, and folkloric dance by Nuestra Danza of Des Moines.

“Dance and music is culture,” Soltero said. “Culture is universal. There is no political affiliation. What better way to bring the community together. This is what I expected. This is what I wanted.”

Legislator Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown) was in attendance just as a member of the community. She loved running into people she had not seen in years, such as former students.

“This is the first time I have been to the renewal of West End Park and it’s beautiful,” she said. “The music, people from lots of areas. This is cool.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.