Raizado Festival was created by award-winning leader Mónica Ramírez in 2020. Ramirez is a longtime activist with roots in the farmworker community. In the fall of 2020, a report was published that revealed alarming rates of COVID-19 deaths among farmworkers, many of whom were Latine community members. This signaled complete systemic failure and the need for urgent action to change the way that Latine people are viewed and treated by society so that a similar tragedy never occurs again.
She knew that it required a bold move to shift the narrative such that Latine people would not be so undervalued as to be left unprotected in a crisis again. In addition, it was necessary to shift the narrative to highlight the many contributions of the Latine community as innovators, changemakers, creators, and power players. The third narrative goal is redefining who is a leader rather than labeling people in professional careers or highly visible people as leaders. The festival seeks to uplift the well-known leaders in the Latine community and those who are lesser known but who are making a significant impact, like the farmworkers who feed us, the domestic workers who care for our loved ones, and the many other Latine people who are leading in places and spaces of all kinds.
Raizado Festival, first launched in 2022 became the answer. Ramirez understood that to create what she calls a “record-scratching moment” that would capture widespread attention and achieve a culture shift, the festival had to be built in a place of significance. The festival began as a two-day gathering and has grown to a four-day festival. This annual festival in Aspen, CO serves as a powerful platform for artists, content creators, grassroots organizers, thought leaders, and community supporters to address the challenges faced by the Latine community and proliferate positive narratives that shape all of our future for the better.
Raizado Festival is a massive undertaking and feat. The 2024 festival was more exciting than ever and included new elements! Mónica and her team at Justice for Migrant Women led a team of 100+ people, from creative to event professionals, speakers and talent, and front- and back-of-the-house skilled workers to create a festival experience truly like no other, one that celebrated the Latine community and that, everywhere you looked, poignantly celebrated the festival’s three pillars: Power, Culture, and Truth.
The planning for Raizado Festival 2024 began before the 2023 festival even took place and culminated in a strategic vision that successfully built upon the first two years of the festival, diving in head-first into logistics, and fundraising. The team worked for months on developing the 2024 theme, creating four-days worth of carefully curated programming featuring powerful speakers, panels, masterclasses, musical performances, cooking demonstrations, and more. They coordinated everything from funder spotlights, stage design, collateral creation, speaker schedules, social media, and even flights and transportation for well over a hundred people, including speakers, crew, and high-profile guests. In addition, the festival consists of 250 badge holders and over 800 people participated in the free community day that is offered as a part of the festival experience. In the spring, the team activated a robust PR and external communications campaign, with monthly announcements rolling out about Raizado Festival 2024, a Raizado launch dinner during the storied Aspen Food & Wine Classic, and a press fellows program that ultimately brought top national reporters from the TODAY Show, ABC News / Good Morning America, NBC News, and Telemundo to this year’s Raizado.
The festival’s events take place in four different venues in Aspen, including Aspen Meadows Resort, Hotel Jerome, Isis Theater,, and the W Hotel. The near buyout of Aspen Meadows requires a timely, all-hands-on-deck festival build-in, requiring days of advance work on the ground to ensure a joyful, inviting experience the minute the first attendee walked through the doors.
Festival founder Mónica Ramírez rooted Raizado in Aspen because it is where thought leaders, changemakers, entrepreneurs, and political leaders convene to participate in many of Aspen’s esteemed programs. Aspen is highly regarded around the world. She had visited the city as an Aspen Institute Socrates Fellow years before, and during her time there, she was one of the few Latine people to attend the program that year. She noted that Latine, Indigenous, and immigrant community members from countries around the world are in fact the majority of the people who sustain Aspen through their labor, but even though these community members play a significant role in Aspen’s economy and success, they are often invisible or in the background. This is why she has spent years cultivating a meaningful relationship with the City of Aspen, and although it has not been without challenges, this growing relationship has led to fostering greater Latine inclusivity, even greater prosperity, and a renewed sense of community thanks to the Raizado Festival.
The Raizado Festival 2024 was a massive success, showcasing a vibrant celebration of Latine achievements, activism, and advocacy. The event gathered influential figures and changemakers, including actors Diego Luna and Wilmer Valderrama, celebrity chef Grace Ramirez, and actresses Annie Gonzalez and Justina Machado, along with U.S. officials like Representative Joaquin Castro just to name a few. Over the weekend, attendees enjoyed live music, culinary experiences, and engaging panel discussions, all focused on storytelling and celebrating the diversity and resilience of the Latine community.
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ADDITIONAL NOTABLE HIGHLIGHTS:
DIGITAL REACH
