Although Lina Garcia has been in Canada since she was two years old, her Colombian heritage remains a large part of her life.

“I have been in Canada for ages. I was raised in Toronto as a Canadian,” she said. “But we would tend to move into the areas where all the other people like us were.”

Garcia made the move to Barrie eight years ago where she found a strong Latin community beginning to flourish.

“What I find is that we are increasing very quickly in this area,” said Garcia, who works as a real estate agent. “Personally, I think the prices of houses in this area has a lot to do with it. People are moving up from the city.”

According to Statistics Canada, there are a large number of people with Latin backgrounds living in Barrie.

The visible minority population data from the 2006 census showed that there were 1,165 Latin Americans living in the city, the fourth highest minority group.

Susan Green, who works with the YMCA’s Newcomer Services program that helps immigrants settle and adjust to live in Barrie, said there are many Spanish-speaking immigrants coming to Barrie.

“The Spanish-speaking community is our largest group overall,” Green said. “It’s been that way for a while.”

Green said about 25 per cent of all clients who use newcomer services are Spanish speaking.

“Spanish can be a wide variety of cultures,” she said. “Obviously, they come from all different countries, but the overall Spanish community is big.”

Since coming to Barrie, Garcia has gotten involved with the Barrie Latin Community Centre, a place that supports the local Latin community and promotes Latin culture overall.

Garcia, who is chair of board of directors for the centre, noticed a demand for a Latin cultural event north of Toronto, which led her to create the Barrie Latin Festival.

The festival is a chance for the Latin community to come together and celebrate its culture and a chance for other Barrie residents to learn about everything Latin.

The Barrie Latin Festival takes place this Saturday at Centennial Beach and features great food, live entertainment for all ages and free Salsa dancing lessons.

The event runs between noon and midnight. Admission is free.

A festival after-party will take place at Mulcaster’s Lounge in downtown Barrie, starting at midnight.

For more information on the festival, click the link provided,  or call 1-888-848-LINA ext. 150.

For more on the Barrie Latin Community Centre click the link provided.