Regional cuisine and tunes will fill Church Street Park next weekend where more than 8,000 are expected to take part in the Annual Puerto Rican International Festival.
The fiesta is being sponsored by the Hoboken Office of Hispanic and Minority Affairs in conjunction with the Puerto Rican Cultural Committee of Hoboken and will be held between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 24.
Festival organizers hope this year’s event will be enhanced by actively inviting members of other cultures to celebrate with them.
“This is the first time that we included ‘international’ in the title of the festival,” said Raul Morales, the president of PRCC, about the eight-year old event. “We made the name change in the hopes of making a great event even better. We want to extend our hands with a message of courtship to all other cultures.”
This year’s event will feature a full day of live musical entertainment from internationally known Latino artists. The music will range from the festive merengue to the contemporary salsa. The headliners of the festival will be salsa aficionados Luis Damon, and Paquito Guzman and the Puerto Rican folk melodies of Los Pleneros De La 21. Also participating will be the Otero Dancers, Rafi and his Steel Band and dance music spun by DJ Orlando. The committee has also made arrangements for family activities, such as animal rides, a petting zoo and free entertainment for children.
Approximately 125 vendors and artisans will display their wares of delicious Caribbean cuisine and hand made artifacts.
A goal of the festival is to raise funds for future college students. In 1997, PRCC created a college scholarship fund to recognize graduates of Puerto Rican descent of Hoboken High and Hoboken Charter School. Last year four Hoboken High graduates received $1,000 scholarships.
Traditionally, a flag raising ceremony precedes the festival. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the raising of the Puerto Rican flag in the city, which will take place on Saturday June 23 at City Hall.
Also, various cultural events, including a senior citizens luncheon and concert, will take place during Puerto Rican week, which officially begins with the raising of the flag.
For more information about the week’s schedule or how you can contribute to the scholarship fund, contact PRCC at 659-1126.