AUGUSTA, Ga. - If you don't see it, you're certain to smell it. The 16th annual Hispanic Festival is larger and has more food than ever before but many call culture the main dish.

“The food. Every year we come it's just delicious,” Minerva Melendez said.

“I came here especially for the food,” Adis Quineos said.

“I'm here so I can try the different food,” Elsie Morganstern said.

It is the one attraction that all three of these women were looking forward to at this year's festival.

“I like to eat!” Quineos said.

But there was something else they were looking to find; a connection with others in the Hispanic community.

“I'm originally from New York and there's a huge Puerto Rican population and then coming her you feel a little detached,” Melendez said.

She says the festival and its comfort foods do more than fill her stomach they fill also fill a void.

“Coming here and being surrounded by the same atmosphere feels good,” she said.

Adis Quineos also felt the need to reach out to the Hispanic community after moving to Augusta from Miami, Florida, an area with a very large Hispanic population.

“I wanted to see how the Hispanic community would get together,” she said.

Event organizer Edwin Perez says the event is important for people like Quineos and Melendez but also for people in the community who don't share their culture.

“We shoot for the community whether it be Hispanic, American, African-American, whatever might be the case,” Perez said.

Amanda Gray feels understanding is essential as our community becomes more diverse.

“We should get to know each other's customs the food the behavior,” she said.

“It's very important to show everybody what our culture is about and that's why we're here celebrating it,” Morganstein said.
Last year about 5000 people attended the event which was only one day long. This year it is two days, and organizers expect to exceed that number.