Puerto Rican pride was palpable in Brooklyn as the community came together to celebrate the Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend. The festivities, which coincided with a long-running parade in Manhattan, drew millions of participants and spectators.
Puerto Rican Culture on Display
The event in Bushwick featured a lively display of Puerto Rican fashion, music, and food. Vendors served traditional dishes like piragua snow cones and watermelon and coconut ice cream, while others showcased their stylish outfits, incorporating vintage graphic tees, cornflower blue basketball shorts, and special-edition Nike sneakers.
According to Monica Santos Gil, the founder of New York-based handbag brand Santos by Monica, the parade is an incredible opportunity for Puerto Ricans to come together and celebrate their connection to the island. "For those who maybe feel less connected to the culture of the island, the parade is such an incredible opportunity for Puerto Ricans to come together, celebrate that connection and feel close to home," she said.
A Celebration of Heritage
The Puerto Rican Day Parade has been a staple in New York City since 1958, with the main parade migrating from Spanish Harlem to its current route down Midtown’s Fifth Avenue. Today, celebrations stretch across the city, with dance parties, festivals, and community activities taking place across the Lower East Side, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, and Bushwick.
Edwin Reyes, a Bronx-based fashion designer, shared his sentiment about the parade, saying, "Growing up in New York, my form of the Puerto Rican diaspora is very different from others’. Because I have the culture of being Puerto Rican, but also New York culture, going to the Puerto Rican parade is such an incredible moment of bringing those two landscapes together. It’s a yearly reminder that says, ‘OK these are my people.’"
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
