This article is part of our series, PR pa'l Mundo, a bridge of stories, ideas and opinions that shed light on what Puerto Ricans are doing in the diaspora, from every corner of the world.
For 37 years, the Loisaida Fest has been the gathering point of the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York.
66 degrees at the end of May was not enough to kill the desire for some Puerto Rican warmth. So I got ready to go out and celebrate at the Loisaida Fest, a festival in the Lower East Side (LES) in Manhattan, better known as Loisaida.
The event is produced by the Loisaida Center, a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary organization focused on community, artistic and cultural development since 1978.
Loisaida Center offers space, mentorship and resources to emerging community leaders, artists and creators. It serves as an incubator for cultural and artistic projects that strengthen community life.
This was the 37th edition of the festival, which marks the arrival of warm days in the city. After a hard winter and a spring that was slow to come, we were hungry to celebrate, to dance and to find each other at a gathering where we could embrace.
It was Sunday, the air was cool, and I felt as if I were at a festival in Jayuya, Orocovis or Barranquitas. There was the smell of pinchos on the BBQ, piña colada and a lot of joy.
Puerto Rican bomba and plena filled the streets, along with reggaetón and, further along, salsa gorda. Our flag and Puerto Rican icons became merchandise, and everyone expressed their relationship with Puerto Rico, and with this community, in their own way.
But remember, we are in New York, and our Puerto Rican culture gets a twist: the "swag." Big screens that said "beba," lots of rings, chains and flag tattoos, lined lips... you know, the unmistakable style of being Nuyorican and celebrating our culture.
There were people in Roberto Clemente shirts, Pirates caps, Z93 and Santurce gear. And all of this happened on Avenue C, known as Avenida Loisaida, stretching eight blocks of kiosks with food, drinks, crafts, handmade goods and many other Latin expressions for the whole family.
I came across the work of Giovanna Andrea and her brand "Pupa," which caught my attention.
Her work includes clothing, jewelry and art with illustrations of our fauna and flora: azucenas, the San Pedrito, the Ruta Panorámica, among other distinctive elements.
Artists from here and from the Island performed on the main stage, and the closing set was by Joe Bataan, a well-known singer and musician with an Afro-descendant mother and a Filipino father, who grew up on the streets of Harlem, where he was part of a Puerto Rican band.
That is the root of his closeness to our music and to Latin music. Songs like "Para Puerto Rico voy," "Gipsy Woman," "Mestizo" and much more.
Some people caught my attention because they carried Puerto Rico in their hearts and in what they wore.
Like Gloria, who with her blue hair and the colors of our flag reminded us of the joy of being different, of daring and enjoying.
Or like Justina, who was every bit a jibarita in her dress and with flags hanging from her neck.
And even the beloved and respected, always elegant, Pepe Flores, cultural organizer of La Sala de Pepe, recognized for preserving the history and legacy of the Puerto Rican community in the LES.
Where the cuatro sounds like it does in the countryside
And in a nearby garden called Francisco “Pancho” Ramos, a green, very green space, a small stage stood out and lifted my Puerto Rican heart.
This space, managed by the center and the community itself, serves as an oasis in the city with paths and places to sit that make you feel like you're somewhere in the Puerto Rican countryside.
There was traditional Puerto Rican music here, and nothing is quite like hearing the cuatro puertorriqueño, the lelolai and décimas dedicated to our archipelago.
We got to see Conjunto los Fascinate and then one of our favorite groups in the city: Yotoco.
A Latin band that combines the folk sounds of the Puerto Rican cuatro with salsa, son, cumbia, bomba and plena. And that cuatro rang out.
Their cuatro player is Geovani Caldero, a musician from Corozal who, with his cuatro solo, moved us deeply and brought us genuinely close to our people and that feeling of being Puerto Rican.
“Déjalo que cante su lelolai”, so went one of the songs performed by Yotoco, and nothing could be truer.
El Loisaida Fest sang its lelolai and, for another year, celebrated the rich culture of Puerto Rico.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
