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July 21, 2005

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.”

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