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Festival to celebrate Hispanic culture
YOUNGSTOWN
The area’s first Spanish Heritage Festival will be Saturday on West Federal Street, downtown, from noon until 8 p.m. The event will highlight Hispanic culture with ethnic foods (including pastelitos, pinchos and rice and beans), music and various special attractions planned throughout the day.
West Federal Street between North Phelps and Market streets will be closed to traffic.
Puerto Rico native DJ Mickey, one of the island’s most- beloved radio personalities, will travel to Youngstown for the event, along with Cleveland’s La Orquestra Son Boricua (roughly translated as Sons of Puerto Rico) orchestra. There also will be singers, dancers and a live exhibition by a local wrestling group.
According to Youngstown police officer Carlos Rivera, one of the festival’s organizers, the idea for the festival came from decades of seeing other ethnic groups celebrated in his hometown.
“In Youngstown alone, there are three Italian festivals, and I always wondered why there wasn’t one for the Hispanic community,” Rivera said in a recent interview.
“I remember going to a ‘Latin Festival’ downtown, but that was 15-plus years ago. I just felt it was time to bring it back, and so did a lot of other people.”
Rivera, who also spearheaded “Youngstown Pride” and helped turn it into an annual summer happening, hopes this will be the first of many Puerto Rican Heritage Festivals to come.
“It was always our intention to make this a yearly event, both for Hispanic and non-Hispanic members of our community. There’s truly something for everyone,” he said.
Festival-goers are invited to attend an after party at The Lemon Grove, 122 W. Federal St., where a DJ will play Spanish and English-language songs until midnight. Latin-themed food and drink specials will be served throughout the evening.