The 27th annual Feria del Barrio festival celebrates Latino culture.
On Sept. 18 the 27th annual Feria del Barrio came to Philadelphia’s Centro de Oro as a part of a traditional festival that celebrates Latino American culture.
“This kind of outdoor festival and community celebrations are very much a part of Latino American culture,” said Carmen Febo-San Miguel, the executive director of Taller Puertorriqueño. “Big towns and country celebrations, like the Mexican independence day are celebrated with these kinds of festivals so for us it was important as a part of creating our presence here in Philadelphia that a festival would happen in the heart of a the Puerto Rican and Latino community.”
Throughout the event participants enjoyed live music, traditional food, information and merchant booths and family activities.
“[Feria del Barrio] is important to us because it highlights artists and it highlights culture,” Febo-San Miguel said. “It also provides information about organizations. It looks at ways in which we can promote our vendors and our artists in ways that improves economic development, so it a very comprehensive effort that we work very hard to try to sustain.”
Taller Puertorriqueño, a community activist organization, in conjunction with Congreso del Latinos Unidos, the Hispanic Association of Contractors and Enterprises and Raíces Culturales Latinoamericanas, helped to make this annual festival a success. It is no coincidence that Feria del Barrio is celebrated together with National Hispanic Heritage month.
“It is important to have Hispanic heritage month because it’s a time when we can focus on the realities of Latinos in this country,” Febo-San Miguel said. “Even though we should think about Hispanics every day of the year, focusing at least one month out of the year highlights that presence and for us it is very important that the rest of the community knows. Vengan todos celebran, which means, ‘Let’s celebrate!’”
Kierra Bussey can be reached at kierrajb@temple.edu.
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