Pupusa Fest celebrates Central American Independence Day

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on September 17, 2024.

Herald photo by Alexandra Noad Staff at Salsa's by Karoll's Catering serve authentic pupusas on Saturday afternoon during the third annual Pupusa Fest.

A Lethbridge restaurant celebrated Central American Independence Day on Saturday with the third annual Pupusa Fest a day full of cultural food and music for all to enjoy.

Central American Independence Day is a day to celebrate when Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua declared their Independence from Spain on Sept. 15, 1821.

Patricio Sarmiento, owner and manager of Salsas by Karoll’s Catering, says each year they are always overwhelmed with not only the amount of people, but the diversity as well.

“We’ve been getting attraction from all genders, from the locals, the Latinos, the African people from the community that have come in and enjoyed the pupusas. We’ve been having a mix of everything and we really enjoy seeing the families sitting down with the kids,” said Sarmiento.

Pupusas are a traditional dish from Central America which consist of a thick corn tortilla filled with cheese, vegetables and meat.

On Saturday Salsa’s offered 4 different variety of pupusas for people to enjoy including pork and cheese; pork, beans and cheese; cheese and beans; zucchini and cheese. For $15, customers received 3 pupusas.

Given the demand of making each pupusas from scratch, there was a waiting period of about half an hour. While Sarmiento apologized for the inconvenience it may have caused, he explained that pupusas taste the best when they are made to order and require patience while preparing to get the correct consistently. Sarmiento assured the product would be worth the wait.

“We apologize for any inconvenience that been having with some people out there saying that the wait is a little long. We understand that, but then again, once you try it, you’re going to say it was worth the wait,” said Sarmiento.

While the weather was not on the event’s side, as it was supposed to be held at festival square, it ended up giving the event some extra hours to work with being held at Salsa’s.

“We were supposed to do it outdoors, but we were kinda skeptical about the weather conditions, so we ended up moving it back into the restaurant. It’s a lot smaller, but longer hours. We’ll be here until two in the morning,” said Sarmiento.

While Pupusa Fest may be over, people can still enjoy a taste of Central America at Salsa’s every weekend at 365 Stafford Dr. North.