First Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade And Third Annual Festival del Coqui

Press Release | For Immediate Release | Aura Alvarado | 860-250-6541 | hartfordprp@yahoo.com

(Hartford) – The Connecticut Institute for Community Development Puerto Rican Parade Inc. (CICD) will host it’s first ever Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade and third annual Festival del Coqui on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

The Puerto Rican parade has been celebrated in Connecticut for the past 47 years, but this year’s parade will be the first hosted solely by the CICD. The goal of the new board of directors is to bring a different element to the parade by promoting cultural awareness in a more collaborative way.

“We are a new board that is trying to keep this beautiful cultural tradition alive by implementing different element such as the red carpet VIP area, celebrity hosts and cultural costumes and floats. “Throughout the years the parade has lost its cultural value and as such received negative publicity. This year it will be different” said Aura Alvarado, president of CICD.

The parade will begin at 11AM on the corner of Warwarme and Wethersfield Avenue to Main St and end at Central Road and Prospect Street. The red carpet area will be in front of City Hall where preselected performances will take place. As similar to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, there will be a Telemundo celebrity host, Rashel Diaz who is the highly recognized host of Levantate. A roundtrip ticket will be awarded to the best cultural float. The winner will be announced at the Festival del Coqui which begins at 2pm at the Mortensen Riverfront Plaza. The parade and festival are expected to attract over 10,000 from the Greater Hartford area and other towns. Waterbury, Willimantic, Fairfield and many others have confirmed attendance. There will be many surprises throughout the parade route with some celebrity appearances on floats. At the Festival del Coqui audiences will enjoy Spanish food, local cultural entertainment, and a battle of salsa bands that will allow the audience to select the winner.

The festivities kick off on Wednesday, June 2 with the flag raising ceremonies at the State Capitol at 12N and 1:15pm at the Hartford City Hall.

Here’s a video of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal at Bridgeport’s 2009 Puerto rican Day Parade.

This year’s Hartford Delegation are:

Chief Edward Casares – Grand Marshall – 1st Puerto Rican Fire Chief
Gladys Rivera – Honorary Grand Marshall – Past CICD PR Parade President
Maria Ortiz – Godmother – 1st Female Hispanic Firefighter
Richard Montanez – Godfather – 37 years of Service to Education
Boys & Girls Club of Hartford – Youth Ambassadors – For their Service to Hispanic Youth
Jose A. Colon – Guest of Honor – Brother of the late Maria C. Sanchez
Aurea Mangual – Guest of Honor – President Fiesta Folklorica Puertorriqueña Inc. Bronx, NY

2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Aura Alvarado, Chair/President, Damaris Cabrera, Vice President of Events, Pablo Santiago, Vice President of Pageants, Veronica Ruiz, Treasurer, Elia Acosta, Secretary, Juan Rodriguez, Sgt. of Arms, Linda Baez, Director, Idelis Caraballo, Director Frangie Cruz, Director, Victor Luna, Director, Raul Ortiz, Director, Edgardo Rivera, Director, Elodia Rivera, Director, Luz Vazquez, Director, Sammy Vega, Jr., Director, Gladys Rivera, Advisor

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CICD is a 501c3 non-profit organization. We are committed to preserving our culture by promoting leadership and education, celebrating traditions and being involved in community service for the Puerto Rican and Hispanic community.

Tags: Puerto Rican Day Parade