Concert hosted by Central Valley nonprofit empowers people to vote

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Central Valley grassroots non-profit is kicking off election season with a free concert called GenteFest in Visalia.

Performing artists including Fuego, Snow tha Product and Las Cafeteras.

The event is an effort to empower, educate and encourage Latino voters to vote during the midterm elections this November.

Rosanai Paniagua is the co-director of LOUD for Tomorrow.

"With this concert, we are celebrating the community, culture and power that Latinos bring to Tulare and Kings County. This event is for and by Latinos, to mobilize folks to the polls," says Rosanai.

The event kicks off the "Juntos Por el Valle" or "Get out to Vote" style tour in Tulare and Kings County.

LOUD for Tomorrow will make stops across six towns, helping register people to vote and spread non-partisan ballot information.

Rosanai mentions, "We really want to invest in our community, inspire them to get out and use their voice for this fall."

Alex Ramos O'Casey is with the Equis Institute, a non-profit which pulls voting data from various sources.

Local numbers show there are close to 300,000 Tulare County Voters, about 140,000 are Latino.

"That is an enormous amount for any of these races that we looked at. Whether it is congressional, this last congressional district has been won within 1,000 votes."

Alex hopes the Gente-Fest concert will help reach the young Latino voting population.

LOUD for Tomorrow and their Central Valley partners will be hosting their voting event this upcoming Friday, October 7, at the Visalia Fox theater.

For details and tickets, visit here.