On stage, the deep rhythm of barriles and three steady, deep voices swirled to form an entrance, and several pint-sized dancers took it in stride. Stepping forward, one lifted a handful of her skirt towards a drummer, and bowed. Her curls bounced, a red top glowing in the light. Her feet worked back and forth on the stage. Her arm sliced through the air, and the drums grew shorter, louder. She leaned back, and they rolled forward. It was a conversation.
As the music floated over the New Haven Green, sisters Karla Burgos and Jenilyz Marie stopped to take in the crowd. For a moment, it felt as if they were transported to their respective cities of Ponce and Bayamón, Puerto Rico, without ever leaving the Elm City.
Rhythmic bomba, heart-stirringly good salsa, and a sea of Puerto Rican flags and memorabilia filled downtown New Haven Saturday at the ninth annual Puerto Rican Festival of New Haven on the New Haven Green. Organized by Puerto Ricans United, Inc. (PRU), the event has continued to grow into almost a decade, with a day of performances and thousands of attendees.
In attendance this year were 43 vendors, including 13 food trucks and 30 nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Performers included salsa legend Charlie Aponte, who capped off a full day of entertainment just as sunset was making its way across New Haven.
“I am exhausted but I am also equally excited and relieved," said PRU President Joe Rodriguez, reflecting on his experience organizing the event (he does not do anything alone: PRU is a dedicated and all-volunteer board). “We have so many people here today. As I went on stage earlier just to a sea of families with so much pride and love. The weather is beautiful. I couldn’t be happier.”
“The Puerto Rican community is a growing community. … We’ve endured a lot over the last couple of years from political corruption, oppression, [and] natural disasters on the island,” he added. “We’ve overcome a lot and we continue to say ‘Presente. We’re here.’”
His daughter, Alyah Rodriguez, echoed that enthusiasm. Like many others at PRU, Alyah also put in work for the event, making “a few hundred” VIP bracelets in the days leading up to the event.
“Our main goal is just to celebrate culture as a community, be able to all come together instead of being divided,” she said. “Especially in the world we’re living in right now, where it feels like everyone is in their own cliques and not really wanting to interact with [one] another.”
Sophia Olivia Quiñones. Jarelis Calderon Photos.
Sophia Olivia Quiñones, who is starting her freshman year at Betsy Ross Academy of Arts & Design (BRADA) later this month, said that Puerto Rican culture means everything to her. She expressed immense pride in her Boricua heritage, calling it “an honor” to win Junior Miss Puerto Rico at the 2025 Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven Cultural Pageant earlier this year.
“To me, Puerto Rican culture means to embrace my Boricua pride and to celebrate my culture and to keep it alive for generations,” she said.
Quiñones added that her favorite thing to do is to give back to her community. As part of her service work earlier this year, she visited a women’s shelter where she donated clothes and toiletries. She described the experience as both heartbreaking and eye opening.
Dolly Perry: "It stands for the Latin community, not just for the Puerto Ricans, but for the Latin community as a whole to come together." Jarelis Calderon Photos.
Sitting in a booth, Dolly Perry offered a stunning collection of handmade jewelry through her business, Sabor De La Temporada. A self-described Nuyorican—Perry’s mom came from the island, while Perry grew up in New York City—Perry got ready for the day with bright bracelets, miniature Puerto Rican flags, and a headwrap that matched the deep, velvety blue of la bandera Puertorriqueña.
Inspired by her mother’s love for jewelry and a desire to pursue something outside of work, Perry opened her business and has been a vendor at the festival for the past two years.
“I started making bracelets and then it bloomed into this,” she said.
This year, she said, she noticed the festival’s continued growth, including more vendors and more attendees, as well as more fun activities for the kids. That’s thanks in part to LEAD (Latinos for Educational Advocacy and Diversity), an educational incubator that has forged a strong partnership with PRU.
“It stands for the Latin community, not just for the Puerto Ricans, but for the Latin community as a whole to come together,” Perry said of the festival. “ Not even for Latin [people], but for to community to come together as a whole.”
Up near the edge of the Green was Shanta Washington, watching her daughter play in a bounce house that had appeared for the day. After moving to West Haven a year ago, Washington said she has been looking for things to do in the New Haven area. After she saw teasers for the festival on Friday, while at a doctor's appointment, she decided to come out and join.
“I see the kids is enjoying themselves, so that’s the best part,” she said. “Everybody’s together as a community. I like to see stuff like that.”
Washington is no stranger to the state’s vibrant array of Puerto Rican festivals: she frequented the Puerto Rican Parade of Fairfield County when she lived in Bridgeport. She likes the different personalities of each festival, she said: Bridgeport’s Puerto Rican Day Parade tends to “take over the whole Seaside Park” and move through the city. The Green feels contained.
Just like Bridgeport, New Haven’s cultural festivities are also evolving and expanding. As PRU turns 10 next year, Rodriguez hopes to expand the festival to a two-day event, by hosting a Friday night concert and all day festival Saturday. This year, PRU held a pre-festival party and bombazo in West Haven on Friday evening, with musicians from Movimiento Cultural Afro-Continental (MCAC).
“Fingers crossed, we get the funding and the support and the community responds, but that’s the goal,” he said.
Asher, Felipe and Paméla Delerme. Jarelis Calderon Photos.
Family members Asher, Felipe and Paméla Delerme came out to enjoy the festival and connect with their heritage. Felipe was enjoying quality time with his mom (Paméla) and his dad (Asher, who for years ran CASA, Inc. before stepping down last year) surrounded by his community and the music he grew up with.
“It’s a chance to share the joy of being Puerto Rican and, even if you're not Puerto Rican you can also share in that joy and have a nice experience here today,” he said. For him, being Puerto Rican means the joy in getting together with family, and recognizing a common cultural bond.
Paméla, who worked for years as a nurse-midwife at Yale New Haven Hospital, said that for her, this event is an opportunity to come together and share music, food, and to identify and to “be around people who see me,” she said.
The liveliness and enthusiasm of the Boricua spirit was seconded by 13-year-old Jenilyz, a student at Bishop Woods Architecture and Design Magnet School. From Puerto Rico’s food to its natural attractions, culture, and beaches, nothing beats the island. She was glad to experience a little bit of that right here in New Haven.
“Like, it be lit [in Puerto Rico],” she said. “Over here [in the mainland], it be a little dry sometimes. In Puerto Rico, you can celebrate anything.”
Burgos, 16, agreed. A student at Wilbur Cross High School, Burgos said that Afro-Latino history is neglected in classrooms, with much of the curriculum centered around the Black American experience. She highlighted the importance of embracing all stories from the African diaspora and encouraged people to view the island.
“It’s a good place to visit,” she said. “ People welcome other people from the United States.”
This article comes from the 2025 cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI). YAJI is a program in which New Haven, Hamden and West Haven Public Schools high school students pitch, write, edit and publish articles through the Arts Paper. This year, YAJI advisors include Arts Paper Editor Lucy Gellman and reporter and YAJI alum Abiba Biao. Jarelis Calderon is a rising junior at Wilbur Cross High School.