HOLYOKE — For a third straight year, Holyoke will be the center of a four-day celebration in Fiestas Patronales de Holyoke.
Starting Thursday, Aug. 1 and ending Sunday, Aug. 4, the four-day celebration will showcase a portion of the rich cultural diversity that defines the city of Holyoke. The cultural extravaganza is celebrated with music, food and dance of some of the cultures that make up the community.
Main organizer of the event Nueva Esperanza shared the first two years of Fiestas Patronales each saw over 20,000 people to the city over the course of the long weekend celebration. The organization has much pride in their formation of this event as it has become touted as the largest Latino event in Western Massachusetts.
Fiestas Patronales is celebrated in different Hispanic and Latino municipalities all over the world and festivals are put on in honor of the town’s patron saint. The way people celebrate changes based on where the festival is, which is why Holyoke’s Fiestas Patronales is focused on the city’s rich cultural diversity. This event features a long weekend of celebration that features cultural specific foods and music
Nueva Esperanza Executive Director Kayla Rodriguez told Reminder Publishing she expects a similar turnout this year and added she is looking forward to all the musical guests they will see over the weekend.
“I feel like this year may be bigger than the last two years because of expectations,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the event was born from Holyoke’s large Puerto Rican population and Nueva Esperanza looking to replicate as best they can the celebration from back home.
“We can’t be exactly like home, but we try to come close and keep those traditions alive,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like it brings them back home.”
This year’s event will also feature a dedication to Salinas, Holyoke’s sister city from Puerto Rico. The Holyoke City Council approved a proclamation back in 2015 citing Salinas as the sister city of Holyoke due to its deep roots formed from people migrating from the island to the Paper City.
Rodriguez explained that last year, she and other members of Nueva Esperanza and the community visited Salinas and met with community leaders there who will be making the trip to Fiestas Patronales this year. This will include the mayor of Salinas as well as musical performers from the municipality.
“The biggest population of Puerto Ricans here in Holyoke are from Salinas,” Rodriguez added. “It’s going to be very special.”
Local and international talent will perform on stage throughout the four days as well, giving different options to people every day. Starting the festival off on Thursday Aug. 1 is what the committee has coined “Worship at the Park” as the religious component of the festival.
That night, starting at 4 p.m., there will be five different performances until the night ends at 9 p.m. Fiestas Patronales Committee member Melvin Sanchez told Reminder Publishing the “Worship at the Park” first night celebrations of the event serve as a good reminder of the celebration and is expected to have even bigger performances than previous years during the night.
“Because this is based on a religious event in Puerto Rico, we want to continue in terms of incorporating the religious aspect of it all,” Sanchez said. “It’s a really big important night that we show the importance of our religious beliefs within this group.”
The “Worship at the Park” night closes out with an 8 p.m. performance from Restoration City Worship with Kathy Joanne, BJ Putnam and Edward Rivera. On Friday night, performances will be from 4-9:30 p.m. with headline performances to close out the night from El Sultan de la bachata and Luis Figueroa at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively.
Saturday, Aug. 3 performances start at 2 p.m., as the all-day celebration will be capped off with a 9:30 p.m. headlining performance from Milly Quezada. Sunday. Aug. 4 features a similar structure with performances during the same time frame and the weekend capped off by headlining performances from Henry Aguayo at 8 p.m. and Oscarito “que loco” at 9:30 p.m.
Fiestas Patronales will still be accepting sponsors through different opportunities up and through the weekend festival. If interested in sponsoring visit nuevaofholyoke.org/fiestaspatronales/.
Sanchez also took time to thank Nueva Esperanza and Rodriguez for their help as a fiscal sponsor of the event and said the event was not possible without them. He added he is very much looking forward to this year’s celebration of culture in Holyoke.
“It’s a signature event for the city, a signature event for Nueva Esperanza. It gets recognition on a statewide level, and it’s been very, very positive,” said Sanchez on the growth of the event and excitement levels for its return once again. “This is Holyoke’s event moving forward forever.”
