ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
July 21, 2005
Hub festival organizers gear up for summer fun
Jeremy Schwab
Drop that television remote and make sure your
wardrobe abounds with the national colors of your country of origin,
because festival season is on the horizon.
The Puerto Rican and Dominican festivals and Caribbean Carnival
will roll into town this month and next, unleashing mass revelry
as expected crowds of hundreds of thousands converge on Roxbury
and Jamaica Plain.
This year’s festivities will feature the customary colorful
parades, upbeat music and array of vendors in Franklin Park hawking
everything from t-shirts to arts and crafts to culinary specialties
of the islands.
The festivals serve are a source of entertainment and an expression
of cultural pride for participants and spectators alike. Each
festival showcases a unique blend of culture, music and dance.
Puerto Rican Festival,
July 29-31
The Puerto Rican Festival kicks off the festival season with a
mix of rides, presentations and music. Live bands and orchestras
will play salsa, merengue, reggae and hip-hop, though the schedule
is not yet determined.
Artisans will set up shop in Franklin Park, selling t-shirts,
hats, art and food. Puerto Rican Festival President Tony Molina
calls it “the best Puerto Rican food around.”
The highlight of the festival, a parade from Malcolm X Boulevard
in front of Madison Park High School to Franklin Park, starts
at noon on Sunday the 31st. The parade will wind its way up Columbus
Ave. to Seaver St., turn right on Walnut Ave. and enter the park
via Walnut Ave.
The festival is being dedicated to Puerto Ricans serving in the
U.S. military. A ceremony will be held on July 25 at noon to dedicate
the square formed by Washington St. and Dedham St. in the South
End as Puerto Rican Veterans Square.
In addition to Puerto Ricans, the festival draws Columbians, Venezuelans,
Haitians, Cape Verdeans, Chinese, African Americans and others.
“To me it is a way of expressing your pride as a Puerto
Rican, a way of sharing your culture with other cultures,”
said Molina. “It gives a sense of belonging and teaches
our children the value of being Puerto Rican.”
For more information about performances at the festival, call
(508) 587-5454.
Dominican Festival,
August 12-14
The Dominican Festival celebrates the restoration of the Dominican
Republic’s independence in 1863.
This year, Boston’s 20th annual Dominican Festival will
kick off on Friday, August 12 from 5 to 11 p.m. in Franklin Park
with a free concert for young people. Bands playing reggeaton
and merengue will perform alongside folklore groups and other
acts. The Youth Day will include prizes for students who have
done outstanding work in school.
On Saturday, bands will perform merengue, salsa and other music
in White Stadium between noon and 11 p.m. White Stadium will again
reverberate with music on Sunday, with bands performing between
noon and 10 p.m. The band list has not been finalized. Vendors
will also sell their wares in Franklin Park both days.
The parade itself, featuring colorful floats and music, kicks
off in front of Jamaica Plain’s Hi-lo Supermarket on Centre
St. at noon on Sunday, ending around 3 p.m. near Tremont St. and
Seaver St.
A lineup of pre-festival events includes: the Anacuonda Coronation
July 30 at Club Lido in Revere from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.; a gala dinner
with dancing August 7 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., also at Club Lido;
the raising of the Dominican flag at City Hall Plaza August 8
from noon to 2 p.m.; a Women’s Day Celebration August 8
from 6 to 10 p.m. at English High School; a health fair August
9 from noon until 7 p.m. in Mozart Park in Jamaica Plain and a
folklore celebration August 10 at English High School from 6 to
10 p.m.
The festival is a chance for Dominicans to celebrate their culture
but also show their restraint and respect for others, according
to Braulio Felipe, treasurer of the Semana Cultural Festival Dominicano
de Boston, which organizes the festival.
“To the Dominican community, it is one of the more important
events,” he said. “It is a representation of the Dominican
people in Boston. We show respect for our neighbors. One of the
best ways is to reduce noise and that kind of thing.”
Caribbean Carnival,
August 25-27
The 32nd annual Caribbean Carnival, inspired by Carnival in Trinidad,
is expected to bring revelers of many nationalities together to
celebrate their interconnected cultures.
The events start Sunday the 14 at 4 p.m. with an ecumenical service
at Charles St. AME Church. On August 20 at the Reggie Lewis Center,
children and adults will gather for the Junior Miss Boston Pagent.
On the 21st, the Kiddies’ Carnival will be held at White
Stadium from noon until 7 p.m., with a contestant in this year’s
Trinidadan calypso contest performing. The cost of admission is
$10, and children 12 and under get in for free.
The King and Queen Competition will take place at the Reggie Lewis
Center on Thursday the 25th at 6 p.m. Admission is $20.
On Saturday the 27, the parade will take center stage. Beginning
at Martin Luther King Boulevard at 1 p.m., the colorful procession
ends at Franklin Park at 6 p.m. Vendors selling a range of goods
and cuisine including roti, jerk chicken, curried goat and many
other dishes will be in Franklin Park beginning at 8 or 9 a.m.
Excursion buses usually bring in revelers from across the country
and the Caribbean. Caribbean American Carnival of Boston President
Shirley Shillingford says she expects hundreds of thousands of
people to attend.
“It is a cultural event for us,” said Shillingford.
“We are here in a different culture and in a different environment
and as they say, ‘When you’re in Rome, do as the Romans
do.’ So this is the only time within the year that we can
bring our culture, our cuisine, our music and our artistry here
to remind us and keep up the tradition of home.”
Back
to Lead Story Archives
Home
Page