Bridgeport’s Puerto Rican community is gearing up for a summer of celebration. The 31st Puerto Rican Day parade is coming up — along with other events in the coming months.
The Puerto Rican Parade of Fairfield County is hosting a series of free events to showcase the Puerto Rican heritage and community. They include a pageant, flag raising, gala, Vejigante mask-making classes, and other workshops, according to organization president Milta Feliciano.
“This is a way to keep us connected to Puerto Rico,” Feliciano said. “We're not on the island anymore. Some of us were born there, and we moved here, some of us were taken there, lived there, and we come back and forth. Thank God we have that luxury. But this is a way of keeping us connected to the island and keeping our culture and our heritage alive.”
The biggest event of the summer will be the parade and festival, which typically draws thousands to Seaside Park. The parade steps off at Central High School, turns on Taft Avenue, and then goes down Park and ends at Seaside Park — that’s where the festival takes place.
“At our festival, people will find food truck vendors, there'll be some artists and vendors there, and you'll have nonprofit organization tables set up. And music will start from 1-6:30 that evening,” Feliciano said.
It’s scheduled for Sunday, July 14.
This year, Puerto Rican festivals across the state were given a $350,000 boost in funding from the legislature.
Feliciano said that funding is, in part, thanks to Rep. Christopher Rosario (D-Bridgeport), a member of the state legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. She said the money is a welcome investment in an event that costs nothing for residents to attend.
“Here in the city of Bridgeport, I have to say, we host one of the largest free events that the city sees every year,” Feliciano said. “You know, we don't charge anyone a dime to come to Seaside on July 14 to celebrate our culture and heritage.”
