Puerto Rican Festival Returns In Force

The crowds will return to New Haven this year for the full-scale revival of the Puerto Rican Festival with a focus on women.

That combination of old and new traditions mark plans for the resumption of the signature community event on Aug. 13.

Before Covid-19 arrived, the festival drew thousands from across the state and beyond for a celebration of Puerto Rican culture downtown. When the pandemic necessitated public health precautions, the festival’s umbrella organization, Puerto Ricans United (PRU), decided to scale down the event to a hundred-person event focused on vaccinations in Fair Haven’s Criscuolo Park. ​“We didn’t promote far and wide,” PRU founder Joe Rodriguez said of the pandemic version of the festival.

This August, PRU is bringing the festival back on the Green, prepared for droves of visitors. It will be headlined by musician Moncho Rivera and co-headlined by performers Celso Clemente, Tony Hernández, and Michelle Brava, all of whom hail from Puerto Rico. Brava, a popular singer, is the festival’s first female co-headliner. In addition to live music, the festival will feature food trucks and local artist vendors. 

The theme of the event will be ​“the Puerto Rican woman,” a shift from previous themes that focused on particular towns and cities in Puerto Rico — one that Rodriguez anticipates will build a sense of unity.

“The pandemic took a heavy toll on so many,” said Joe Rodriguez. ​“No hugs or kisses, not being able to see our grandmothers — that hurt many of us because we are a family-oriented community. So to be able to gather on the green with family” is especially meaningful this year.

PRU, an all-volunteer organization that founded to revive the annual festival in 2015, spent the past two years gathering personal protective equipment for seniors, feeding first responders, organizing toy drives, and filling social media feeds with Spanish-language health information about Covid and vaccines.

While this year’s festival will revive the exuberance of years past, it will also continue PRU’s dual role as a public health promoter, with a vaccination clinic from the state Department of Health and additional medical services from Cornell Scott Hill Health Center.

“We’re rooted in culture and we’re rooted in community service,” said Rodriguez. ​“We have to look out for the social well-being of our community.”