Berkeley Farmers Market Salsa Festival 2022

Submitted by the Event Organizer

The Farmers Market Salsa Festival at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park in downtown Berkeley has become an annual go-to event for our East Bay community and beyond. Join us for a day of environmental and cultural experiences with music, dance, and food and beverages being offered all day long.

Salsa Festival 2022 includes performances by San Francisco Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble, Berkeley High School Jazz Band, the Wasaka Project Cumbia Duet, Afro-Cuban Afro Peruvian artist Erick Peralta, and Grammy Award Winner Christian Pepin y su Orquesta Bembe. Professional Latin Dancer Rebecca Galindo perform with her students, as well as demonstrate step-by-step how to navigate basic Salsa dance steps.

It won’t be long before you will be moving to the Latin rhythms while sipping sustainably made Mojitos, Beer and Wine. Other activities will include a Latin Drum Circle led by Christian Pepin, the Fashion Trashion Booth where attendees can take selfies with upcycled fashion, and Pedal Powered Smoothies.

Stroll the park and shop for sustainable jewelry, pottery, textiles and more from local artisans. The whole family will love the Puppets of the World as they float through the park. You will be able to pick up giant eco-focused puppets from the Giant Puppets of the World booth and learn to navigate through the event with giant butterflies, bumblebees, and more.

In the Kids Zone, the young and young-at-heart will meet Compton the Compost Puppet, made entirely from recycled materials, and learn how composting helps the planet. Kids will get to blow giant, environmentally-friendly bubbles with huge wands, make clay masks, join the Berkeley Library Story Time, sing along with Mariela’s Bilingual Music Time and learn a few Salsa dance steps. They can also make an upcycled percussion instrument and join the Kid’s Drum Circle, or join the Farmers’ Market Treasure Hunt and win a prize.

The festival will offer a variety of locally-sourced, sustainably-made food and beverages in tandem with the adjacent Farmers’ Market. Freshly made mojitos will be for sale from female-founded, female-owned Montoya Distillers, a leader in the industry in sustainability and social responsibility. The mojitos will be made with mint and lime sourced from the Farmers’ Market. Craft beer and wine will be poured by local sustainable breweries and wineries, and water stations will be administered by Ecology Center Youth Environmental Interns.

StopWaste Chef Helga Alessio will demonstrate various ways to make fresh salsa, using the Farmers’ Market produce that was freshly chopped by event attendees in the Pedal Powered Chopping activity. As one of the Ecology Center’s Instructors, Helga will prepare salsa samples while sharing information about cooking with food scraps to reduce one’s carbon footprint. Attendees will be encouraged to visit the Farmers’ Market, where they can purchase food from Farmers’ Market food vendors.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.