"We're slowly transitioning to the Amigos International, underlining international, festival," founder Lucy Vasquez told WWAY last November, as her event filled Ogden Park for its 25th year. "We're looking for people to join us and make it truly international, not just Latino."
Twelve months later, the change is official. The 26th annual Amigos International Festival comes to Ogden Park on Saturday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 15, and the "Latino" that used to close out its name is gone. The county's tourism calendar now lists it as the International Festival, "previously known as Festival Latino." If you live off Market Street or Gordon Road, the free weekend in your neighborhood park now has a broader lineup than the name you remember. The festival is about three weeks away.
A festival that started across town in 1998
The event is older than most of what now stands along the Market Street corridor. According to the StarNews, Vasquez started Festival Latino in 1998 at Long Leaf Park as Wilmington's first festival celebrating Latino culture. The same report counts 27 years from the first festival to last year's but only 25 editions. Three years were lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and bad weather.
By last year it was held at Ogden Park, and the name was in between. WECT and WWAY both called it the "25th Annual Amigos International Festival Latino." WECT reported that the Saturday event drew hundreds of people. Vasquez told the station she started the festival to bring different Latin cultures together and never expected it to last this long. Her new mission, she said, was to take it beyond Latin countries. "The community loves culture. The community loves the differences, and I think this festival is the best to enjoy," she told WECT.
So the 2026 name is the end of a change already underway. What's on the program follows the same direction.
Same hours, broader billing
The weekend runs on the same schedule as last year. The changes are in the name and in how organizers describe the festival.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Billed as | 25th Annual Amigos International Festival Latino | 26th annual Amigos International Festival |
| Saturday | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Nov. 14 |
| Sunday | Noon to 6 p.m. | Noon to 6 p.m., Nov. 15 |
| Admission | Free | Free |
| Venue | Ogden Park | Ogden Park |
WWAY's October report says this year's festival celebrates the diverse cultures of the Cape Fear region. It brings people from different backgrounds together through food, entertainment and community activities. Vasquez told the station she expects a bigger turnout than last year. That matters to anyone living within a few turns of the park entrance, and the parking notes below explain why.
The food list shows the change best
The food lineup shows the new name most clearly. Both WECT and WWAY list vendors expected to serve dishes from these countries and regions:
- Mexico
- Japan
- India
- El Salvador
- Cuba
- Puerto Rico
- Honduras
- The Philippines
- Colombia
- The Caribbean
Japan, India and the Philippines on that list are the international expansion Vasquez described a year ago. The Latin American base the festival was built on is still there.
The rest of the program draws from more than one culture too. WWAY says the live entertainment includes bands, singers and traditional dance groups from across North Carolina, plus local performers, dance lessons and DJs. Local and regional artists will sell handmade crafts, pottery and jewelry, including artwork from Latin America and other parts of the world. Last year, Vasquez told WWAY the festival had "over a hundred exhibitors in the different areas." "It's not your average little tiny festival," she said.
Kids Fiesta and the services fair
Two parts of the festival have stayed the same through the name change, and both make it more than a food weekend.
The Kids Fiesta area returns with inflatable rides, carnival games, a climbing wall, bungee jumping and piñatas. Its signature event is the Mexican Hat Race, held every hour, as it was last year. With a race on the hour, families can plan the rest of their visit around it.
The health and human services fair gives visitors a chance to learn about community programs and resources. WWAY reports that local businesses and community organizations will also be on hand to connect with festivalgoers.
The park the festival fills
For the other 50 or so weekends a year, Ogden Park is the place you know for the dog park and the loop trail. New Hanover County's Ogden Park facility page lists these features:
- An off-leash dog park
- A playground
- Three regulation soccer and football fields
- A one-mile accessible walking trail around the pond and athletic fields
- Restrooms at the picnic shelters, with Shelter 1 next to the playground and fields
The county lists park hours as 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Nov. 14, the festival runs until 8 p.m., so the park stays open a couple of hours after it ends.
Locals know the layout well, and that knowledge pays off on festival weekend. Shelter 1 sits between the playground and the fields, so its restrooms are the obvious stop for families going back and forth to the Kids Fiesta. The pond trail is a full mile, which makes it an easy way to walk off a second plate. If your Saturday routine is the off-leash area, keep in mind that the festival will be running in the same park all day.
Getting in, and what isn't settled yet
Plan for one practical gap. No 2026 parking or shuttle arrangements have been announced, so the only guide is last year.
In 2025, WWAY reported shuttle service from Enoch Chapel Missionary Baptist Church on Market Street. In 2024, the StarNews said parking was first come, first served or outside the park. Those were last year's and the year before's arrangements. This year's could be different.
The listings don't agree on the address either. The tourism bureau's Ogden Park listing gives 615 Ogden Park Drive, Wilmington, NC 28411. The same site's festival listing gives the venue as 7069 Market Street. WWAY describes the location as near Market Street and Gordon Road. If you're giving directions to guests from outside the area, 615 Ogden Park Drive is the street address for the park itself.
Market Street also has construction of its own. The Wilmington Urban Area MPO describes the Phase IV access management project, known as U-4902D, as a median project on Market Street from Middle Sound Loop Road to Mendenhall Drive and Marsh Oaks Drive. In January 2026, the MPO's board packet still showed it as a work in progress. If your route to the park uses that stretch, allow some extra time.
A simple plan for the weekend:
- Check for 2026 parking and shuttle details during the week of Nov. 9. Last year's shuttle stop is a good first guess, not a confirmed one.
- Go early on Saturday. The festival opens at 11 a.m., and organizers expect a bigger crowd than last year.
- Go Sunday afternoon for a shorter visit. It runs from noon to 6 p.m.
- Use Shelter 1 near the playground as your meeting spot if your group splits up.
- Bring cash or a card for the food line, which this year covers ten countries and regions.
Your neighborhood park hosts a festival with 26 editions behind it. It began with one community's culture at Long Leaf Park and now has food from Japan, India and the Philippines on the list. The renamed Amigos International Festival is free to attend on Nov. 14 and 15, a short drive from your own street.
Ogden's November calendar is part of what makes this corner of New Hanover County home. Ronel Austin follows it closely, from park weekends to the road work on Market Street. If you'd like to talk about what's changing around Ogden Park and what it means for your own plans, let's connect.
