09/13/2026
Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful piece about my journey. I truly appreciate the time, thought, and care you put into sharing my story. It means a great deal to me and inspires me to continue working for our community with even more passion and dedication. Martin
"Courage to do what you want."
That has been Martin Linares's motto. It’s led him to share his passion for community and his pride in his Peruvian roots through the thing he knows best: producing events that bring people together.
His most successful to date is the Charlotte Peruvian Festival. "I saw a need to bring this festival to Charlotte," he recalls thinking when he returned to the city in 2017 after three years away. He had first arrived in the Queen City in 2001, building a life and a network of his own.
Returning meant starting over. The connections he had left behind had shifted, and the city itself had transformed—nowhere more visibly than in its Peruvian community, which had grown considerably in his absence. Yet despite that growth, Martin noticed there was still no central space for Peruvians to gather, celebrate, and pass a sense of cultural pride to the next generation.
With a background organizing events for companies like Coca-Cola, closing that gap felt almost inevitable. He started making calls, and today, the Charlotte Peruvian Festival recently marked seven years of drawing thousands from across the region for music, food, and performances that showcase the richness of Peru.
The festival is only part of the story. Throughout the year, Martin produces events that bring Latin American artists to venues across the city—a venture that, like the festival, began simply with the courage to put his vision out into the world. Supported by his partner and fueled by his calm yet tenacious focus, he keeps finding ways to enrich Charlotte, bringing the flavors and sounds of Peru for all of us to experience and celebrate.