El Carnival de la Cultura Latina [The Carnival of Latin Culture] took place under the sunshine in Kingsbridge Heights on Sunday, July 10. Held at West 195^th Street and Reservoir Avenue, a large stage was set up on one end of the booth-lined street with musical entertainment and dance performances for the many families and members of the Latin and local community, young and old alike, who showed up to join in the festivities. There were bouncy houses, games, fun photo booths, food stands, and despite the heat, plenty of smiles seen all around.

 

Speaking in Spanish, festival participant, Anny, said, “We’re very grateful for the activities that the community has here in The Bronx, grateful for everyone to have this festival, for all the residents here. We’re having a great time, thank you.”

 

Another younger festival goer, Esther, 8, said the best part of the festival was the trampoline as it was her first time to try it. She added that she wished they had one at school.

 

Asked what else she liked about the festival, Esther said, “You could get toys and it’s fun!” She added that she’d like to see more festivals like it in the neighborhood. We the asked the 8-year-old about the importance of her Latin heritage. The little girl replied, “I’m very proud.”

 

“El Bronx” is the only New York City borough with a majority Hispanic population. Its 806,463 Hispanic residents make up 54.8 percent of the borough’s 1,472,654 total residents, according to the 2020 census. Meanwhile 419,393 Black residents make up 28.5 percent of the population, 130,796 White residents make up 8.9 percent of the population, and 67,766 Asian residents making up 4.6 of the population.

 

Senior resident, Carmen Gomez, who has lived in The Bronx for many years, told us it was the first time such a festival had been held at the Kingsbridge Heights location. Speaking in Spanish, Gomez said, “It’s well organized.” However, she added that she would have liked to have heard more “Spanish” music.

 

A short video of one of the carnival musical performances can be watched here.

Food vendor, Janet, was manning the La Braza booth with her dad, Luis, and her colleague, Joen. She said they are regularly at The Bronx Night Market, the Queens Night Market, another market in New Jersey, as well as other events like the Puerto Rican Day Parade and another organized by the Ecuadorian Center.

 

She said business had been kind of slow in Kingsbridge Heights on the day of the festival, which she put down to the weather being so hot.

 

Miley Ramos, 13, just celebrated her birthday recently and was attending the festival with her family. Asked for her reaction to it, with a broad smile, she said, “It’s actually really fun! I really like it! I’m really enjoying it!”

 

Asked if it was the first Latin festival to take place in the area, she said, “Yeah, usually no one would do this around here. It [a regular day] would just be simple…people walking past, going to school and stuff like that.”

 

Asked about the importance of celebrating and preserving Latin culture, Miley said, “Basically, it means to, like, support your country with other people and stuff, to show that you’re actually Latina……to dance. Basically, the music comes from Latinos. Basically, “reggaetón” comes from the Dominican Republic, and Salsa, but the food, it comes from Puerto Rico, so it’s really actually fun to be Dominican and Puerto Rican. I’m Dominican only.”

 

We asked Miley if it was good to have a day where all Latin communities could celebrate together, in addition to individual days for each country. “Yeah, you can do it any day if you feel like it,” she said. “Dominican people, we just go to, like, a street and cover the street”

 

She added, on Dominican Day, itself, “There’s this suit that Dominican people wear and there’s, like, this long rope and they start whipping the air and stuff and it makes a lot of noise, and that’s also how Puerto Rican people do it [too] but us, Dominican people, we do it way different. It’s actually fun both ways. I like it! The masks are really scary but, like, it’s funny at the same time because they make different designs.”

 

Asked if it was a bit like the Chinese dragons, she said, “Yeah! It’s like that. We do it in DR too. We do it down here too [in The Bronx] but somewhere farther [on Dominican Day] so that we can’t get in trouble or nothing bad happens.”

 

Miley continued, “Mexican people do the same thing. It’s just that they do it in Mexico. They do the same thing as we do. They take a mask and start whipping. My friend is Mexican, and she does the same thing for her culture. I actually thought it was pretty cool that Mexicans and Dominicans are doing the same thing when they celebrate their own culture.”

 

The 13-year-old said she wasn’t really into the music that was being played at the festival but said it was ok. “Basically, I like reggaetón so…particularly, I like Bad Bunny and stuff. I’m a really big fan of him!”

 

Asked if she thought it would be a good idea to mix up the music next year to cater for all generations, she said, “Yeah, because there’s some people that don’t really know these kinds of music, so I think they should.

 

“Consuelo” was manning the Mary Kay make-up and skincare stand. “We’re very happy to return to being in physical contact with people again, no longer doing business virtually here, taking in the sunshine, getting to know the people, and sharing,” she said in Spanish. “This festival is important to get to know everyone.”

 

Consuelo said there had been a lot of people passing by on the day of the festival and that people seemed to be now more comfortable going out and walking in the streets, despite another rise in COVID cases across the City.

 

She said physical interaction was good for people’s mentality too in terms of “love” and “hugs that they needed.”

 

Asked what being Latina meant to her, Consuelo said, “It represents love, community, connection, human warmth, happiness, joy, music, enthusiasm, sun….to be successful!”

Mayor Eric Adams was due to attend the event to mark the occasion but ended up being a no-show on the day. The mayor was already scheduled to attend a number of events across the city, but his absence did not appear to affect the atmosphere.

 

The mayor did make an appearance in The Bronx, in Bedford Park, on Thursday, July 14, for the opening of the Bedford Green House supportive housing project for the formerly homeless (story to follow), and on Saturday, July 16, he was back in the borough once again, attending a barbecue hosted by State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36) outside his constituency office at 929 East 233rd Street in Wakefield.

 

Bailey, chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, is running for reelection in District 36 in the upcoming August primaries. Also in attendance were Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (A.D. 83), Assembly Member Nathalia Fernandez, (A.D. 80), City Council Member Marjorie Velázquez (C.D. 13), State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda (S.D. 32), and State Assembly Member Yudelka Tapia (A.D. 86).

 

Big ups for the Boogie Down! Great to join Senator @jamaaltbailey to celebrate summer in the Bronx! pic.twitter.com/iPO3HxhDQ4

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) July 16, 2022

 

As reported, Fernandez is currently running for State senate in District 34 in the August primaries for the seat currently held by State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, while Heastie is on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 8, 2022. The Democratic primary for District 83 on June 28 was canceled, as was the Democratic primary for District 80. As reported, Biaggi is running for Congress in congressional district 17.  Meanwhile, Espaillat, Torres, Bowman are also all running for reelection in Congress on Aug. 23. Sepúlveda is also running for reelection in the State senate.

 

Interestingly, though considered a member of the so-called “Squad,” the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and in a departure from 2020, Bowman is on the ballot representing the Democratic Party only in the upcoming August primary, and is not on the Working Families Party ticket.

Back at the Carnival de la Cultura Latina, when asked what being Latina meant to Elisa Alemin, she told us, “I don’t know. I just love it! I love the culture. I love the food!” She added, “Everybody is free, not only Latina, just being alive! It’s so important for everybody to just love each other!”