Sisters Make Latino Culture the Order of the Day : Festival: The Sunday event will feature food, music, a commemoration of Cesar Chavez, a play and more.

El veinticuatro de julio (July 24) is not a date commonly associated with celebrations of Latino culture. Nonetheless, the Sisters of St. Joseph, an international order based in Orange, have chosen Sunday to throw a party featuring Latin American music and foods at their Center on South Batavia Street.

Fiesta Latina will be the third annual event hosted by the Roman Catholic nuns to celebrate the ethnic diversity of Southern California. Last summer’s fete highlighted African American culture; the previous year focused on Native Americans.

“We want to show the community at large that we live in a pluralistic society,” said Norm Anderson, a spokesman for the order, “and that one way to get along with our neighbors is to learn about each other’s cultures and backgrounds. We hope this event reminds people of the very positive things that people of other ethnic backgrounds have brought to Southern California.”

St. Joseph expects about 500 people to attend.

Activities will range from educational to just plain entertaining. It all starts at noon with the planting of a grapevine in memory of Cesar Chavez, the late activist for migrant workers’ rights. Traditional music by the group Rondalla del Sol will be played. A performance by the folkloric dance troupe Relampago del Cielo will follow.

Other events will include a slide show on the ancient history of Latin America, compiled by docents of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, and a presentation by Amigas de la Cultura, a group formed by Garden Grove schoolteachers to promote understanding of Latino culture, on Dia de los Muertos , a day set aside to remember the dead. The presentation will feature costumes, toys and pastries traditionally used on the Day of the Dead.

“Two Friends/Dos Amigos,” a one-act play, will be performed at 2:30 p.m. by a theater troupe from Los Angeles. It is the story of two young men--one Latino and one Anglo--who, despite language barriers, become friends on the basketball court.

Alturas, a band from Anaheim, will play modern pieces using homemade instruments, including flutes, strings and rain sticks.

A quinceanera Mass, the traditional “coming out” for Latinas on their 15th birthdays, will be celebrated in the sisters’ chapel at 5 p.m. After the Mass, guests can sample Mexican foods catered by the Don Chucho Restaurant in Costa Mesa. Mariachis will play. The fiesta will end at 7:30.

The Sisters of St. Joseph are an order of about 170 throughout the world. Forty live at the headquarters in Orange, where the order owns and operates St. Joseph Hospital.

* Fiesta Latina takes place Sunday from noon to 7:30 p.m. at the St. Joseph Center, 480 S. Batavia St., Orange. Adults $3, children $1.50 (a maximum of $10 a family; food and drinks extra). (714) 633-8121, Ext. 110.