Fuego heats up Friday nights at the ATL

Fuego Fridays are back at the Arcata Theatre Lounge, featuring local DJs, dancers and a safe space for BIPOC communities to come together. 

Fuego is a Latin dance club night, with DJs playing a variety of music from different parts of the world, offering a deeper look into the lives that exist throughout Humboldt. On Nov. 14, Fuego partnered with Centro del Pueblo (CdP) for a benefit show to fundraise proceeds to the community group. The room was brought to life with music, dancers, a community ofrenda, live painting and an energetic crowd lined up to the end of the street.

Gabriel Paredes, founder event coordinator and DJ, felt the need to open this space 10 years ago. 

“I just saw that Humboldt didn’t really have a consistent space where BIPOC and Latinx communities could see themselves reflected, celebrated, and centered,” Paredes said. “And so, as we started doing this, I was like, ‘Oh, there it is’ wow. And so we just started developing it from there, and it just kind of took off. And it became like a platform for Latinx, BIPOC, and like queer artists to be able to have a space, a platform to be able to express themselves, to be able to translate whatever their experience is, how they’re feeling, through a different kind of music.”

Drifting across the stage, dancers are lit up by dazzling strobe lights. Isabella Euan, Fuego’s Dance Director, brings together local dancers to perform throughout the night. Euan got involved with Fuego because she believes in the power of community and wanted to be a part of a space that made that happen. 

“It’s just a place to feel happy, you know, and it’s a place to feel safe, free,” Euan said. “You can come, you can put on a nice, beautiful outfit and feel beautiful and feel powerful and dance and like know that you’re safe and you have a show to see, you have people to be with, you have a family.”

Euan admires seeing the diversity and different generations that spend their night dancing under the same roof. 

“Young 18-year-olds are so happy to be able to dance in an environment like this and it’s new. And then you’ll see an older couple, like, dancing salsa together and just like so joyful,” Euan said. “And so I really enjoy that aspect that it’s all over the map of ages. And it really feels just kind of like this is community, you know, like it’s all different types of people.”

Jesus Paulino, also known as DJ Diablinski, started working with Fuego this past year and since then, has grown to appreciate the community he has been welcomed into. 

“Ever since I’ve been playing with the Fuego family, like I’ve gotten to know more artists that are willing to give more to the community,” Paulino said. “And they’re actually doing something to light a fire in other people, like motivate them to keep on doing what they want to do, or like to just keep on with their dreams.”

Brenda Perez, Executive Director of CdP believes in the spirit of Fuego as a place to honor the immigrant community that truly celebrates the lives who fill this community. 

“I think for us, the space of advocacy is sometimes very restricted, so for a group of DJs that says come and celebrate and be loud and dance, it’s amazing. And having the reggaeton as a flag of resistance is even better than sometimes being just in the front lines, you know, holding all this loudness,” Perez said. “So I think in a small community like Humboldt County, having a party to celebrate immigrants, man, this is the real sanctuary.”

The next and last Fuego night of the year will be held Dec. 12. Fuego nights are typically held on the second Friday of each month, unless the ATL is hosting a different event. To stay updated on when events are happening, where to buy tickets and how to get involved, visit @fuegoreggaetonparty on Instagram.