As many Johnson City residents began to settle in to go to sleep, the celebration at Go Burrito on North Commerce Street was just starting to come to life for the Día de los Muertos Salsa Party.
On Oct 26, the night began with the usual seating area being transformed into a dance floor. Starting at 9 p.m., guests were welcomed to the floor to participate in Latin dancing lessons taught by Bernard Jr. Goliday, who teaches at Bristol Ballet twice a week.
“Seeing them smile having a good time was my favorite part,” said Goliday. “Seeing everybody dance was great. I got to take people who had never danced before and show them how fun it is.”
Party-goers showed up dressed in Halloween and Día de los Muertos attire. Three of the best costumes were chosen as winners for the costume contest and were awarded gift certificates to the restaurant. The evening proceeded with continued dancing, cornhole outside the building and food available past their normal closing time of 11 p.m. Franchise owner Doug Carroll tended to the needs of customers in front of and beyond the counter.
“We were looking for something fun and different to do,” Carroll said. “Since we want to reach out into the community and be something a little different than what Johnson City has, we felt instead of doing your typical Halloween night that when [Bernard Jr.] approached me about doing a Latin theme night we figured that even though we are a week early, Día de los Muertos would be a great, fun, just spin on introducing people to something a little different.”
According to Carroll, the event received great support from the area, and it stayed busy throughout the night.
“I think the community has responded well,” said Carroll. “I think a lot of people have just come out and enjoyed it. I mean our place is definitely full right now. That is exciting for us. I think the Facebook community responded amazingly.”
Carroll hopes to continue serving the needs and wishes of the downtown community and plans to have similar events in the future.
“I think we can always get into the same trend of doing the same thing with trivia and karaoke nights,” Carroll said. “We do that over and over, but one of the main reasons I wanted to be a business owner is I really thought we could become a part of this Johnson City community that continues to grow, especially downtown. Some people could not make it out tonight, I think there is going to a place for doing more Latin dancing nights at Go Burrito in the future.”
