11th Annual Fiesta Boricua
a Resounding Success!

Over 150,000 Puerto Ricans from around Chicago and across the U.S attended the 11th annual Fiesta Boricua held on September 5th in our Puerto Rican passageway, Paseo Boricua. In between our beloved Puerto Rican flags was an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate our history and traditions through a showcase of Puerto Rican art, food, music, and dance.

There were a variety of performance styles this year including everything from bomba y plena, salsa, reggaton, jibaro music to rapping, breaking, turntablism and poetry reading. Some of the performers were Mikey Perfecto, and Jose Nogueras. There was a little something for everyone.

During Fiesta, a new mural on Campbell and Division called "Sea of Flags"
was unveiled. This mural was dedicated to our special guest Lolita Lebrón.
At the dedication and unveiling Lolita expressed her gratitude and
satisfaction with the painting. The incredible new mural was designed and
painted by Gamaliel Ramirez and assisted by Star Padilla, Luis Ortiz,
Moncho, community youth and Batey Urbano members.

As we reported in the last edition of La Voz, Fiesta Boricua lost a huge
portion of its corporate sponsorships and its budget was reduced to a
quarter of what it was in previous years. Despite these challenges, Fiesta
Boricua like each of the past 11 years brought a "pedacito de patria" to our Puerto Rican community. Thousands upon thousands of Boricuas returned to el Barrio and discovered a piece of themselves in the process.

La Voz would like to acknowledge the visionary work of Alderman Billy
Ocasio, the Division Street Business Development Association and the
volunteers of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in organizing Fiesta Boricua.
Without their tireless work, our Puerto Rican community would not be what it is today, the most wonderfully organized Boricua community in the United States. Fiesta Boricua is a beautifully magnificent example of this work to strengthen and stabilize our community!