SLO County Hispanic heritage celebration canceled due to ICE, safety concerns
Local nonprofit Mujeres de Acción has canceled its fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Festival, originally scheduled to be held in downtown Paso Robles on Sept. 14, due to safety concerns.
Executive director Yessenia Echevarria told The Tribune that organizers were concerned about potential immigration enforcement activity. With ICE raids and political violence happening around the country, Echevarria said it was the safest option to cancel this year’s event.
“Given the circumstances of where we’re at, we cannot put at risk the same people we advocate for,” she said.
The 2025 celebration was to be held in the Downtown City Park in Paso Robles. One of the safety concerns was the open space, allowing access from all angles — but the nonprofit didn’t have the budget this year to change the event’s location or hire additional security, Echevarria told The Tribune.
The annual celebration has historically been popular. Last year, the event saw around 4,000 attendees, Echevarria said.
Mujeres de Acción plans to bring back the Hispanic Heritage celebration in 2026 with a security plan.
Organizers plan to coordinate with the Paso Robles City Council, San Luis Obispo County supervisors, Paso Robles Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office to help ensure the safety of attendees.
The organization will also host smaller celebrations throughout September and October, it said in an Instagram post announcing the cancelation.
Echevarria encouraged community members to keep tabs on the Mujeres de Acción social media pages for information about future events, and to extend their support to the organization in any way they can.
To the SLO County Latino community, she offered a message of strength: “It’s important for us to continue to be brave in this time.”
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