Fair Haven Celebrated At Annual Fest

Fair Haven Day proved that it’s here to stay on Saturday afternoon, when hundreds of city residents flocked to Grand Avenue to bask in the sunshine, attend the parade and festival, and celebrate the neighborhood.

The festivities began with the 16th annual parade, which was sponsored by nursing home Mary Wade and featured dozens of local organizations — including student marching bands, hula hoopers, a fleet of crossing guards, and New Haven’s very own Junior Miss Puerto Rico. The parade kicked off at the Martinez School and traversed across Grand Avenue to Fair Haven School, cheered on by family and friends all the way.

One of the students marching in the parade was Alyssa Seneca, a student at Betsy Ross Magnet School. She told the Independent that it was really exciting to be able to play her trumpet down Grand Avenue — but hot, too! ​“It was a lot of lungs,” Seneca said, smiling.

This is the third year in a row that the Fair Haven School grounds were transformed for the daylong festival and fair. Back in the ​’80s, Fair Haven Day was a staple of the neighborhood. But the tradition fizzled out, until 2023, when a group of community residents banded together to organize its revival. 

Working once again with the International Festival of Arts & Ideas — which has attended and supported the Mary Wade parade for years — this Fair Haven Day might have been the biggest one in a generation.

Kiana Cintron, the festival’s project manager and a staffer at JUNTA for Progressive Action, said that she and other organizers ​“wanted to do this because of the community. It used to happen way back when, and we decided we wanted to kick it back up. Now we have so many different organizations and community members working with us.” She praised Fair Haven Alders Sarah Miller and Frank Redente, Jr., along with the full Board of Alders, for playing such an important role in organizing the fest. 

At Fair Haven School, attendees of the festival had the opportunity to sit before a temporary stage and hear speeches, watch traditional Puerto Rican dances, and listen to live music. They also could mill about and explore the over 80 local vendors that set up shop for the day. 

One of the organizations attending Fair Haven Day was Read to Grow, a Branford-based literacy group that provides free books to young children across the Greater New Haven area. Staffer Evelyn Tomasello — who grew up in New Haven — said that her group also attended last year’s Fair Haven Day, and appreciated the opportunity to share their services with the city. 

Fair Haven resident Taylor Settle, whose young family members participated in the parade, said that she enjoyed the celebration because ​“it’s a little bit of everything about Fair Haven. Every culture is represented, and there’s a lot of Fair Haven pride. It’s great.”

There was no shortage of activities available for kids, from free slime-making hosted by the New Haven Youth & Recreation Department to a Fair Haven School-sponsored book fair to seemingly endless ice cream options.

Older New Haven students could get in on the fun, too — not just by attending the event but by volunteering to help out. New Haven Public Schools students Edmara Dominguez, Yeendrol Norda, and Katherine Perez all spent the day there as volunteers, handing out flyers and helping with parking.

In the afternoon, Mary Wade announced their 2025 Outstanding Community Leadership Award. The winner was Dr. Suzanne Lagarde, CEO of Fair Haven Community Health Care, who was praised during the ceremony for her efforts to expand access to the Covid-19 vaccinations in Fair Haven. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney both attended the award announcement. 

Residents who spent all afternoon at Fair Haven Day had the chance to attend the day’s final activity: a wrestling show with the Elm City Wrestling Club, held in Fair Haven School’s auditorium.