Hispanic literature, dance, and food were the focus of the Hispanic Heritage Month Festival, which was held outdoors Saturday on Terry Street, in Patchogue.

The festival included book readings by Hispanic authors, mambo and merengue dance lessons, and a performance by the Teatro Rodante Hispanico dance company. There was also free food provided by Gallo and Ruta Oaxaca restaurants.

“We’re here to celebrate Hispanic culture and Hispanic artists,” said Lissetty Thomas, the Patchogue-Medford Library’s head of adult services and one of the event’s organizers. Other organizers included the Patchogue Arts Council and Cuentos de Triadas, a Westbury-based Latino cultural organization.

The festival “really showcases our diverse community and the many talents our people have,” said Adriana Devers, an author and poet and Cuentos de Triadas founder.

Devers gave a reading from her Spanish-language book “Huellas De Una Memoria Perdida” (“Traces of a Lost Memory”), about Devers’s Afro-Caribbean heritage. She also led the audience in dancing the merengue, which turned Terry Street into an outdoor dance floor for dancers like Elisa Irvolino, a chef and author from Patchogue.

“I like it,” Irvolino said of the festival, which was scheduled to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15.) “I hope they do it every year. It’s a nice representation of the community.”

This was the first time in at least five years that the Patchogue-Medford Library held a Hispanic cultural festival. They used to hold it in the walkway next to the library, but they stopped holding the event during the pandemic. This was the first time the event was held on Terry Street.

Library officials hope to make it an annual Hispanic Heritage Month event.

“I’m hoping this grows and continues going on for years to come,” Thomas said. “That way we can keep embracing our culture and celebrating our culture for Hispanic Heritage Month.”

The library will host a flamenco dance performance on Saturday, Oct. 4, from noon to 1 p.m. Register on the library website, www.pmlib.org.