UMANI brings music, dance and more Sept. 26
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month AGO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | September 16, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — There are some great performances coming up at the UMANI festival next week, Columbia Basin Allied Arts Director Shawn Cardwell said.
“We have CeAtl Tonalli coming back for our opening ceremony,” Cardwell said. “We’re closing the night with Bishop Snow. He’s a performer out of the San Diego area who’s really well-known in the lowrider community. He’s sort of our headliner.”
Snow is a rapper, according to a social media post from CBAA, blending old-school West Coast influences with modern hip-hop. CeAtl Tonalli, which has performed at UMANI in the past, is a Seattle-based troupe that demonstrates authentic Aztec dance and traditions. Another regular guest at UMANI, Mariachi Huenachi, carries with it the Mexican mariachi tradition.
UMANI, now in its fifth year, celebrates the various Hispanic heritages found in the Columbia Basin. While many of the performers represent facets of Mexican heritage, others will cast a wider cultural net. Hijos de Agüeybaná brings Bomba music, an Afro-Caribbean tradition from Puerto Rico, according to their promotional materials. Another returning act, Hermanos de los Andes, plays South American folk music with authentic traditional instruments.
“Not only do they perform (with) traditional flutes and drums and other instruments from that area, but they bring a huge (group) of dancers that wear the most incredible and jaw-dropping clothing,” Cardwell said.
Hermanos de los Andes will also lead a workshop on traditional Native American instruments, Cardwell said. Other workshops, in both English and Spanish, will focus on poetry, photography and videography, she said.
As in the past, Third Avenue will be lined with lowrider cars. Paul Carney, owner of E-DUBS C/S and one of the event sponsors, has been tirelessly promoting the show to lowrider organizations nationwide, Cardwell said.
New this year will be a quinceañera parade downtown, in which any girl who celebrated her quinceañera in the last year is invited to ride. Past UMANI festivals have included Mexican luchador wrestling, but that’s on hiatus this year, Cardwell said.
The festival’s name derives from both the English “humanity” and Spanish “humanidad.”
“It’s the heart of both those (words),” Cardwell said. “The heart is the same whether it’s in English or Spanish. The idea was to create a name that wasn’t owned by any language or any person. It’s an all-new space, an all-new word where people can some together and celebrate each other and the community as a whole.”
UMANI
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 26
Sinkiuse Square
Moses Lake
Moses Lake’s UMANI festival Sept. 26 will feature art, music, food and a lowrider car show.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
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Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
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BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”