The Puerto Rican Festival of MA July 29-31

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Mark your calendars, El Festival Puertorriqueno de Massachusetts, is less than a month away. The popular event, now in its 49^thyear, is scheduled to take place from July 29-31, 2016, consists of the following events as posted on puertoricanfestivalofma.org:

The Flag Raising at City Hall

The Puerto Rican flag is an important symbol of pride in our heritage. During the flag raising at the City Hall Plaza the City recognizes our heritage and civic accomplishments and social contributions of the Puerto Rican community to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and acknowledge the opportunities that the Commonwealth has provided for our collective progress. Community members from across the State join in the event to witness the flag raising every year. The event program includes folkloric music, dance, typical food and community awards. This year we will dedicate the flag raising ceremony to distinguished individuals in recognition for their contributions and services to our community.

The Puerto Rican Festival Pageant

Whereas a traditional pageant have candidates compete based on their physical attributes, our pageant selects the Puerto Rican Festival Queen based on their talent, community service, and overall knowledge of the Puerto Rican history, tradition and cultural values. Each year young participants from all ages compete in the event, and yet in the end, each participant receives a prize. In other words, everyone wins and they are all winners!

The Puerto Rican Parade

Just as any other ethnic group in the City, the Puerto Rican parade is an opportunity for the Puerto Rican community to showcase our culture through wonderful floats, colorful dance troupes, singers, dancers and our distinguished honorees. The parade is a fun event for the entire family and spans from Boylston Street in the Back Bay area to the City Hall Plaza in Boston for an afternoon and evening of music and cultural celebration.

The Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts

The annual Festival is our flagship event that brings together people from all heritages to share, learn, and celebrate our culture. Our three day event is held at the City Hall Plaza honoring our history, values, traditional music, typical Puerto Rican food, and local arts and crafts for the entire family. The Festival includes kiosks that will feature different activities, including a health fair, face painting for kids, storytelling of Puerto Rican traditional stories and legends, presentations of eco-friendly gardening and cooking techniques, and teaching of Puerto Rican musical percussion.

Our proven ability to attract 185,000+participants in the course of the three day celebration, coupled with this year’s outstanding program of events, musical bands, artists and sponsors, makes the Festival the perfect venue to market and outreach to the fastest growing ethnic population in New England and in the United States.

Also, for the very first time this year the Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts will be attempting to set the Guinness World Record for the “Largest Salsa Dance in the Word”. Please stay tuned for more particulars of the event in the coming months!

We are very proud that this year’s Festival will prove to be even more successful than previous years.

NEW THIS YEAR

The Latino Health Fair, Saturday, July 30th from 1-5pm at the Boston City Hall Plaza, Government Center

Families will have the opportunity to interact through health screenings, obtain information and speak with representatives from the following world renowned health institutions:

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care,

Boston Scientific,

Tufts Network Health,

IORA Primary Care,

Nx Stage Kidney Care,

Harvard Vanguard,

Whittier Street Health Street Center,

Boston Senior Home Care,

Central Boston Elder Services,

Brigham & Woman’s Hospital,

Massachusetts General Hospital

Harvard Medical School

City Psych

Neighborhood Health Plan

For more information about The Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts, including a complete list of events, sponsors and a look back at the history of this important festival, visit puertoricanfestivalofma.org.