NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Puerto Rican Festival of New Haven was a day filled with food, dancing and lots of Puerto Rican pride at the city green in New Haven on Saturday.
“I brought everybody to join us with the community,” said Jacqueline Vega, of Stratford.
Vega told FOX61 she brought a group of friends and family to check out the over 10 food vendors and nearly 45 businesses who had booths set up.
Joe Rodriguez, board president of the Puerto Rican Festival of New Haven said, “We have a deep history in this city. It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate who we are as a people; our community, our culture.”
Rodriguez explained that celebrations of Puerto Rican culture were prominent in New Haven in the past but had been on a brief hiatus. That all changed eight years ago when the community pushed for a return.
“There’s 25,000 plus Puerto Ricans just in this area alone and over 300,000 Puerto Ricans in the state of Connecticut,” said Rodriguez. “We’re roughly 40% of the total Latino population,” he added.
This festival serves as a representation of the thriving Puerto Rican community, one that’s here to unite and grow even further.
“The Puerto Rican community, we’ve endured a lot over the last years from hurricanes, earthquakes, political corruption,” said Rodriguez. “So, for us as a community to stand together united over five, 10,000 (people) and say, 'Listen, we’re here, we’re growing, we’re family-oriented and it’s just a great time,' it’s a great feeling to see so many people on the green.”
Josue Maldonado of Meriden noted how unifying the event felt, expressing hope it’ll continue to grow in the future.
“I think that we should keep doing this. You know, not only Puerto Rico; could be different nationalities, but unite, everybody get together. That’s the important thing,” said Maldonado.
It was anticipated that 10,000 people would attend the festival when all is said and done.
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Kaelee Collins is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kcollins@fox61.com. Follow her on X, and Instagram.
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