FAYETTEVILLE — Ricardo Martinelli said he was a bit of an oddity when he arrived at the University of Arkansas in 1969.

“There was no one to speak Spanish with,” he said. “I think I was the about the only Latino in the area. I know there were not many of us.”

The 1973 UA graduate is Panama’s president. He helped kick off the kick off the inaugural NWA Hispanic Heritage Festival and Health Fair with a keynote speech Friday morning.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. today at the Washington County Fairgrounds and includes vendors, music, food and other educational and cultural events.

“I am very happy, thrilled and excited to see how Northwest Arkansas has become diversified,” Martinelli said.

Benton and Washington counties were home to almost 71,000 Hispanics, or 16 percent of the population, in 2012, according to the Census Bureau. Hispanics only accounted for 1.1 percent of the area’s population in 1990 and 7.4 percent in 2000.

Steve Clark, president and chief executive officer of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber organized the festival to bolster economic development and build stronger relationships across the community.

“We want to help Northwest Arkansas realize how much the Hispanic community has already accomplished and how much more they will contribute to the community in the future,” he said.

The festival is in Fayetteville, but designed for the whole region to enjoy, Clark said.

Chung Tan, the chamber’s director of economic development, said she has been getting calls from all over the area inquiring about the two-day event.

Rosa Mars traveled from Fort Smith with her husband Gary so she could meet Martinelli. Mars is from Panama and has lived in Fort Smith for 22 years.

Mars said she makes it back to Panama once a year, but knows only a couple of other people living near her from her home country.

“These events are nice because they help spread different culture to other people,” she said. “My husband loves to come to these to learn about the Panamanian culture.”

She said getting people of different cultures together can also help clear up misconceptions.

“Some people ask me if I speak Mexican. I tell them that's a nationality,” Mars said. “I speak Spanish.”

Martinelli said many people don’t realize how many different cultures fall under the Hispanic umbrella.

“Latinos have many different faces,” he said

Tan said the festival will feature a different country every year. The chamber selected Panama to start with because its business culture is similar to ours, they are in the same time zone and use U.S. currency.

“We believe there are no borders in the business world,” she said.

Next year’s festival will focus on Mexico, followed by Columbia and Brazil.

Ivette Muniz from the Mexican Consulate office in Little Rock traveled has a booth at the festival and is already excited about next year.

“This helps us be close and know each other,” she said. “It is important for us to be part of the community.”

Luz Septimo is a junior at the University of Arkansas studying math and computer science. She plans to return to her home country of Panama after graduation.

She stood at a booth for the university’s Panamanian Student Organization.

“I don’t think a lot of people know much about Panama. We are working on that and we are move involved on campus this year,” she said.

The group has 126 members.

Nancy Rodriguez, 19 of Springdale, was working at a food booth for El Santaneco Restaurant, her family’s Mexican and Salvadorian eatery. She said she likes to check out food from other cultures.

“I’m more in touch with my Salvadorian heritage than my younger sisters,” she said. She represents the first generation of her family to be born in the United States. “I’ve learned from my grandma.”