Noche de Cultura is about more than celebrating the Latino community — the Latino Heritage Month Committee wants people outside of the Latino community to attend.

They have organized an event, as part of Latino Heritage Month showcasing music, food, dancing, art and talent from Latin American countries. However, the group fears the majority of the people attending the annual Noche de Cultura, which means night of culture, will already be members of the Latino community.

This year, education of the entire community is a main goal, says Sulianet Ortiz, member of the Latino Heritage Month Committee and Daily columnist.

“The reason we work to put these events together is not for us, it’s for everyone in the ISU and Ames community to enjoy,” Ortiz says. “We want everyone to go, we want people to learn about the culture — to learn what is it is to be Latin American.”

Ortiz, junior in electrical engineering, says she has noticed there are different months dedicated to various groups in honor of a diversity of cultures, but too often people outside of the community sponsoring the event do not feel welcome attending.

Alicia I¤iguez, an undeclared graduate student and six-year member of the Latino Heritage Month Committee, says she agrees education is important.

“It does get frustrating when you have the same people going to the same events, because you don’t feel education is going on,” I¤iguez says. “We want people outside the community to come and educate themselves about the culture.”

I¤iguez says in order to educate about Latino culture, the committee feels it is important to represent as many Latin American countries as possible.

“What I would hope that people would learn is that first of all, Latino does not mean one country, it incorporates a lot of different cultures and ethnicities,” I¤iguez says. “From my own experiences, people tend to think, ‘Oh, you are Mexican,’ and they don’t realize that each country is different.”

I¤iguez says this year Noche de Cultura will focus on a wider range of countries than ever before.

“This is the first time we are having this many countries represented in the fashion and talent show,” I¤iguez says. “We worked really hard to try and get a variety of cultures.”

I¤iguez says this has been easier to do thanks to growing support from the community.

“Noche de Cultura has changed so much over the years, and it is moving toward a more diverse event,” she says. “Every year it keeps getting bigger and bigger as more interest and sponsorship grow.”

She says new changes this year include food and a showcase of art done by Latino students.

“This is the first time that we are going to have food accompany the event,” I¤iguez says.

The foods offered will be from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador and hopefully Brazil as well, Iniguez says.

This event is going to be like bringing Latin America to Iowa State, Ortiz says.

“The biggest goal is to promote the various cultures of Latino America in one night,” I¤iguez says.

Who: Noche de Cultura

Where: Great Hall, Memorial Union

When: 6-9 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $5 students, $8 public