A half-mile stretch of Division Street on Chicago’s West Side was awash with the red, white and blue of the Puerto Rican flag Sunday as thousands took to the street to celebrate the culture of the tiny Caribbean island.
An unblemished blue sky greeted attendees of the 14th annual Fiesta Boricua, a festival of food, folk art, music and dance in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Revelers swayed and shimmied to the frenetic beats of salsa and reggaeton that bounced around the blocks between Western and California Avenues.
The festival “is our attempt to really make sure this community will remain a Puerto Rican-accented community, but it’s also a place where we can welcome people to immerse themselves in Puerto Rican food, music and culture,” said Jose Lopez, executive director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and, along with Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th), one of the event’s organizers. “It’s both an affirmation and a welcome.”
Organizers said they expected more than 250,000 people to attend the event, which they bill as the largest Puerto Rican celebration in the Midwest.
At one stand, Atrevete Boricua, workers toiled behind heated trays, spooning out plates of rice and beans, bacalao con encebollado (cod with onions) and fried plantains.
“Every year it gets a little better, a little bigger,” said Carlos Quetell, an owner of Atrevete, which means “dare you” in Spanish.
“Getting out is good for me,” said his wife, Nilda Gonzalez, taking a short break from food preparation. “Thanks to God for this day with the community and the people.”
On the sidewalk in front of the AfriCaribe Cultural Center, five percussionists played bomba, a music rooted in the cultures of African slaves brought to Puerto Rico hundreds of years ago and of the native peoples of the island.
“It’s Afro-Puerto Rican music, primarily African, from many different traditions around the island, mostly in coastal areas,” said Evaristo “Tito” Rodriguez, the center’s artistic director.
As two musicians banged in rapid-fire on their leather-topped drums, another rattled a maraca and yet another played the cua, a set of sticks tapped against a wooden cylinder. A woman donned a flowing skirt and danced, the musicians accenting her movements with beats from their instruments.
The term “boricua” comes from “boriken,” “the ancient name of Puerto Rico by the native people,” Lopez said. The island’s current name was coined when the Spanish colonized it in the 16th Century.
Boricua “has become a popular expression of Puerto Rican-ness.” The festival is a celebration of that feeling, Lopez added.
For some, there was a simpler reason.
“We’re a happy people,” said an artist who identified herself only as Cuca, who sold Afro-Caribbean-themed paintings and sculptures at the festival. “Any reason to have a festival. Any reason to have a party.”
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alwang@tribune.com
