Cumbiaton dance celebration of Latino culture resumes after pandemic

Before the pandemic, a typical Cumbiatón dance party hosted over 1,500 bodies swaying to infectious Latin beats in sold-out venues across Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York. While COVID-19 halted the parties, this celebration of Latino culture returned this week with its first indoor party in over a year.

"Cumbiatón events are brought to you by an immigrant collective of artists who throw these for people of color, queer people and immigrant folks," 33-year-old co-founder Norma "La Oaxaqueña" Fajardo told "Good Morning America." "We're not just a party, we're very intentional as an intergenerational movement that utilizes music to heal and uplift our 'hood communities."

Fajardo is joined in this mission by her coterie of founders and organizers, including Zacil "DJ Sizzle Fantastic" Pech, 32, Julio Salgado, 37, Paolo Riveros, 39, and Graciela "DJ Funky Caramelo" Marquez, 34. Cumbiatón's recent comeback in L.A. was sold out, but the celebration prioritized safety by being significantly smaller and only open to vaccinated guests.

"Covid is still happening, we're still not fully comfortable with jumping in and having a big event so we're taking it slow," Fajardo said.

Since 2017, Cumbiatón has created a safe space for Latinos to celebrate their multifaceted identities through music, particularly through the tropical sound of the cumbia genre. According to the founders, they were inspired to create Cumbiatón as a way to cultivate community and make the nightlife scene more inclusive and welcoming to women, LGBTQ+ people, and other disenfranchised groups.

"Yes, we're immigrants, yes, we're queer, yes we're marginalized, but that doesn't mean we're sad all the time, that doesn't mean we're struggling all the time," Pech said. "And I think Cumbiatón is definitely a response to that, it's a way for marginalized communities to come together on the dance floor and rejoice in our existence, our lives."

During stay-at-home-orders, Cumbiatón shifted to virtual DJ sets to continue fostering communal socialization among their followers. The response was overwhelming and Cumbiatón ended up reaching viewers beyond their usual Latino audience in the U.S.

"We had people watching us from Mexico, Australia, Japan, so it was a whole new different experience," Pech said. "It was really beautiful to see how we were able to connect with other people worldwide now in such a critical time in our society's history."

Cumbiatón also started a livestream series on Instagram called "Oversharing with Normz," which consisted of Fajardo interviewing artists, activists, and other guests who have taken part in past Cumbiatón events.

"For our community to grow so much during our virtual programing, I think it's just a true testament to how we go about Cumbiatón," Fajardo said. "It's not just transactional, we're not just trying to party, we're actively and intentionally going around and really building this community."

Viewers frequently expressed their gratitude to the co-founders for producing these virtual festivities and keeping the party going during the pandemic.

"The amount of folks that have messaged me or come up to me post-quarantine to say, 'Hey, I just really want to say thank you for keeping me sane throughout the pandemic,' or to tell us how we made it a little bit more bearable, I think that for me speaks volumes in the type of work that we've done as Cumbiatón to lift the spirits," Pech said.

Cumbiatón's highly anticipated return was especially momentous because it took place at their new headquarters, Sazón -- the restaurant Pech and her mother recently opened in Huntington Park.

"It's not only going to be a kitchen for my mom to really do what she loves, but also do what I love, which is fill the space with music and community, so it's a hybrid of two dreams," Pech said."

Pech and Fajardo said that while the recent event was on the cautious side, they hope the celebration of Cumbiatón's fourth anniversary in September will be bigger and look more like their usual parties. Until then, Cumbiatón will continue to provide virtual parties and smaller gatherings to propagate love for cumbia music and community joy.

"Cumbia is not only trendy now, cumbia is ancestral knowledge that has been passed down from our elders and that we have a duty to share, but more than anything, cumbia is something that brings our communities together," Pech said.