Once a week, a group of musicians gathers at Louisville native Gregory Acker’s home. A wooden lodge in the backyard transforms into a studio, buzzing with conversation as each band member clicks open the cases of their saxophones, Andean flutes, congas and guitars. They hail from all over the world: Ecuador, Canary Islands, Spain, Mexico, New Hampshire and Kentucky.
During this week’s practice, Yapa! is preparing for WorldFest 2025, one of Louisville’s largest annual cultural celebrations, and where they’ve performed for more than a decade. For this year’s performance, lead vocalist and guitarist Beatriz Perez, originally from Spain, said she wants people to get up and dance.
“[Some] Americans will never dance Latin dance,” Perez said. “They experience a whole different culture that they're not used to in the vibe, in the energy, in the crowd. There's a lot of cultural elements that not only come from us, but from the people around us.”
All their original songs and covers are in Spanish and reflect some members’ personal experiences.
“Our music supports the immigrant community in its lyrics, in its appeal,” Acker said. “It’s a lot of music that we play. It brings people together on the dance floor. It brings them into sing-alongs.”
Acker said the band’s message has not changed since he and Fernando Moya started the group a decade ago. He said bringing their songs to the stage is more important than ever, especially during a nationwide immigration crackdown under the Trump administration.
Immigration anxiety
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations data, ICE has made more than 26,000 arrests and nearly 67,000 detentions so far this year.
The White House has set a goal of 3,000 arrests a day, and reporting from KCRA in California shows the federal immigration agency is on track for the highest deportation rate in the last decade.
In other cities, some cultural celebrations have been canceled amid immigration anxiety, according to Bloomberg. Parades, festivals and sporting events in Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles were called off after a spike in ICE raids.
Some immigrant advocacy groups said they stopped coming to such events to protect the vulnerable communities they serve, the report said.
Regarding WorldFest in Louisville, an ICE spokesperson said they would not disclose if they had a conversation with festival organizers.
“Raising speculation about such matters only creates unnecessary fear,” they said. “ICE continues to work closely with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies as part of its daily mission, and law-abiding individuals have no reason for concern.”
In a statement to LPM News last week, Mayor Craig Greenberg’s spokesperson Kevin Trager said WorldFest organizers are expecting “record breaking attendance” and a full slate of vendors this year.
Greenberg said he wants everyone to feel safe at WorldFest.
“I know, given what’s going on in the country, there’s a lot of questions whether WorldFest will be a safe event for everyone in our community. And the answer is yes,” he said Tuesday. “We want people from all across the city and region for this great celebration of who our city is. We take that very seriously.”
A bridge between communities
Yapa! members feel their music is their way of defending the immigrant community in Louisville and beyond.
“We're not only important for the immigrant community, but we become a really important bridge between the immigrant community and the American,” Perez said.
Safety and protection is the theme of one of Yapa!’s original songs “Colibrí.” It means hummingbird, and its writer, Perez, said it’s based on an interaction with the little, fluttering bird.
“I was feeling really lost and sad and in my mind with negative thinking,” she said. “And I was sitting and I looked and there was a hummingbird flying in front of my face.”
When the hummingbird kept coming back, Perez took it as a sign to get out of her head and focus on the present. She said she later learned that hummingbirds are considered divine messengers in Latin America.
“They usually carry a message of protection from the ancestors or your loved ones that are coming to tell you, everything's gonna be fine,” she said. “So then the story became more powerful.”
As practice continued, the band transitioned into another original on the setlist, “Ciudadana del más allá” or “Citizen from Nowhere,” also written by Perez, who immigrated to Louisville from the Canary Islands.
She said the piece is about her early struggles as an immigrant.
“I always say in the shows — especially to people who have to cross a border and learn another language — it applies to anyone who's ever moved, because when you move to different places, you feel like you don't know where you are from anymore,” she said.
For their last song, Yapa! plans to perform a cover of “Clandestina” by Manu Choa, a French and Spanish musician and activist.
“The meaning has become even more special and heavier by the circumstances,” Perez said. “At the beginning I say to [the audience], ‘No human being is illegal. Ningún ser humano es ilegal,’ and everybody's just looking for a place where they can exist and be safe.”
Perez said the song serves as a reminder to the audience.
“It's an important message that we're immigrants in a country funded by immigrants, where everybody is descendants of immigrants,” she said.
The 23rd annual WorldFest runs Friday through Monday. Yapa! Is set to perform Friday at 8 p.m. on the Fountain Stage.
