It has been said that bigger isn’t necessarily better, an adage that may very well apply to ethnic festivals and parades in Hudson County this year. A week after a Hoboken committee canceled that city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade comes word that at least one of Jersey City’s ethnic festivals will be scaled back.
Ric Ayala, the incoming president of the 2012 Puerto Rican Heritage Festival and Parade, has announced that this year’s festivities will be scaled back considerably compared to years past. Typically the festival and parade are a two-day affair held over the course of a weekend in mid-August. The parade, now in its 52nd year, traditionally takes place on a Sunday with an outdoor festival and marketplace that gets spread out over the entire weekend. The two-day event that has been held in recent years actually stemmed from a week-long Puerto Rican heritage celebration that culminated in a parade.
But Ayala said this year, less will be more.
‘Even in New York, the Puerto Rican Day Parade is just one day.’ – Ric Ayala
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And that’s not the only feature the new president plans to cut. In addition to holding the parade and festival on one day, Ayala plans to shorten the parade route.
“Again, it’s too long,” he said. “There are a lot of open gaps along the parade route. You’ll have a bunch for cars and floats or marchers that will come through. But then there might not be anything else for another three minutes or five minutes. Sometimes the gaps can be several blocks long. That makes the parade less interesting for spectators.”
Previously, the parade kicked off at Lincoln Park at Kennedy Blvd. and went down Montgomery Street to City Hall.
If Ayala’s plans for the parade are approved by the city, he wants to start the parade at the Jersey City Armory, at 678 Montgomery St. at the corner of Summit Avenue.
Tough sell
Ayala admits these changes might not sit well with everyone, particularly the city’s Puerto Rican community which has grown accustomed to a multi-day celebration.
“As I go out into the community I hear, ‘Oh, why are you doing this? Why are you cutting everything down? We used to do it for a week.’ A lot of people are blaming the city, when it’s actually coming from me,” he said.
Ayala knows it will be a tough sell convincing members of the community that a one-day event is sufficient. And local residents interviewed last week were disappointed to hear that the parade and festival would be scaled back this year.
“Really? One-day? Why just one day?” asked Riggo Osorio when he heard about Ayala’s plans. “I liked the two-day festival. That’s too bad.”
“This just gives me more incentive to get to the real [celebration] in New York,” said Osorio’s friend Ricardo Ten, who said he sometimes skips the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York but always attends the one in his native Jersey City. “Now, it will be the other way around. I’m going to start skipping the one here and go to the parade in New York.”
Two other friends who had gathered with Osorio and Ten outside a Journal Square bodega didn’t comment on Ayala’s plan, but shook their heads in apparent disgust.
But Ayala said organizing multi-day festivals is expensive – an expense the organizing committee can’t necessarily sustain.
“It’s hard enough to try to raise money to do these things,” Ayala said. “We have to raise money for booking bands, to cleanup, staging, marketing, security.”
Policing, permit fees, and other costs associated with city festivals are covered entirely by the organizing committees, not city taxpayers. Last year, the Puerto Rican Heritage Festival and Parade organizing committee spent more than $17,000 for policing costs alone.
The organizing committee holds a series of fundraising events leading up to the festival and parade to cover these expenses.
In addition to being cheaper to put on, Ayala said a shorter event will also be “less of an inconvenience to the city.” When the event was a weeklong affair the city received some complaints about noise, particularly at night. Since the event has been cut down to two days, complaints have dropped in recent years.
“There have been very few complaints to the city regarding our parades and ethnic festivals,” said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill. “Jersey City is a tapestry of nations, and as such, we encourage the display of all cultures in our city. The city has not asked the Puerto Rican parade committee to cut their festival to one day…We do not make a practice of limiting public assemblages – we accept and review applications from each and every citizen or non-profit group to ensure that all permits are obtained and laws are followed. If the festival committee decides they would like to change the parameters of the parade and/or festival, we will support that effort.”
Despite the changes, however, Ayala insists the 2012 will still be a good time.
“We’re going to create a cultural, educational event so first and second generation Puerto Ricans can experience their culture,” he said. “And not just us. The other ethnic groups here can come out and learn about Puerto Rican heritage in a safe, fun-filled family atmosphere.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.