Thousands flocked to Villa Victoria's Plaza Betances at 100 West Dedham Street for this year's Festival Betances, a three day celebration of Puerto Rican culture and heritage presented by IBA (Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción). The weekend was filled with performances by professional, youth and community-based talent, contests such as the domino tournament and palo enceba'o (greasy pole) climbing contest, and Puerto Rican foods and crafts from vendors. An impressive array of local elected officials and candidates also showed up to glad-hand, giving further evidence of the increasing political clout of the Latino community. The list of sponsors was a Who's Who of businesses and institutions, including the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Goya Foods, the Latino newspapers El Planeta and El Mundo, Northeastern University, Massport, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Except for the vendors' wares, all of the weekend's attractions were free and family-friendly.

Moderate temperatures and a gentle breeze set a relaxing atmosphere for Friday night's Family Night activities. The festival began with a 6:00 PM parade from the plaza onto Washington Street comprising community groups, youth dance and baton troupes and las reinas de Festival Betances, the winners in different age categories of the Festival Betances pageant. After the march, a buffet was offered gratis at the plaza, with traditional dishes such as arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), roasted pork, salad, watermelon and desserts including the Latin favorite, tres leches cake. Noche de Bohemia, music by Gilberto Rivera, a mix of classic Puerto Rican ballads and dance tunes, rounded out the evening, which had an intimate ambience despite its expansive setting and attendance. Mayor Martin J. Walsh made a brief visit to the festival to greet the crowd in the plaza.

Saturday's International Day activities were varied and high-energy, with music from Colombian hip hop act Lengua de Mi Barrio; Honduran merengue and punta rhythms from Nuevo Imagen and salsa from Mambo Magic as well as dance by Meta Movement, the youth group South End Showstopperz and dance/baton group South End Dynamite. IBA performance and production manager Alex Alvear, a gifted who performs locally with his group Mango Blue as well as in his native Ecuador, took the stage to sing on Saturday afternoon with Manolo Mairena y Sus Amigos. Saturday night's headliner was Moncho Rivera, a singer who presented a tribute to his uncle, Puerto Rican salsa superstar Ismael Rivera. Rivera's sentimental set, a faithful rendering of his uncle's greatest hits, had hundreds gathered in front of the stage singing along, dancing and smiling ear to ear.

Sunday's programming emphasized Puerto Rican culture, with a salsa set by Conjunto Barrio, music and poetry by the Julia de Burgos band, the Villa Victoria-based group Grupo Semillas, a tribute to Willie Colon, Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades by Rafy Muriel y Gozarsa and a blazing, hour-plus festival finale by international salsa/Latin pop singer Héctor Tricoche. Calderón-Rosado estimated the crowd at Tricoche's performance at over 2,000.

Competition was intense at the domino tournament, conducted throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday in a tent at the entrance to the plaza, with surprise guest, attorney general and gubernatorial aspirant Martha Coakley trying her hand successfully. On Sunday, three teams composed mostly of young men gamely scaled the greasy pole, estimated at 40 feet, vying to grab a Puerto Rican flag to win. None of the teams succeeded in reaching the flag, but the team that came within inches was declared the winner.

The vote-seekers were out in force each day of the festival. On Saturday, IBA CEO Vanessa Calderón-Rosado introduced gubernatorial aspirant Coakley, who offered brief comments before mingling with attendees for almost an hour. Coakley called for "universal pre-K, good public education and job training so that we have a good economy for everybody." Her visit was part of a mini-tour on Saturday that also included door-to-door visits in Latino communities in Lowell and Lawrence. As she departed the festival, Coakley surprised one attendee when she shook his hand and said with glee, "I won at dominoes!" Felix D. Arroyo returned to his old neighborhood to shake hands with friends and introduce himself to others, promoting his bid for Suffolk County Register of Probate. His opponent, 2013 City Council candidate Martin J. Keogh, also dropped by the festival to meet voters. Other officials and candidates who made the rounds included State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, State Rep. Byron Rushing, City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, Sheriff Steve Tompkins, Democratic candidate for Attorney General Warren Tolman and his opponent, Maura Healey. Commenting on the strong political presence at the festival, Calderón-Rosado said, "We did have a number of candidates come by this weekend. These candidates have realized that they need communities of color, and in particular the Latino community, to win.  As this reality continues to grow with our numbers, it's clear that candidates need to reach out to our community, listen and learn, and take into consideration our community's assets and needs.  I was pleased to see many of them here this weekend!"

Villa Victoria's jubilant weekend was also marked by tragedy when Niko Nuñez, 20, was gunned down on Aguadilla Street on Saturday afternoon. His family placed a memorial with candles near the spot where he died. Acknowledging an increased police presence at the festival, Calderón-Rosado explained, "The sad and tragic murder that happened this weekend had nothing to do with Festival Betances and the young man murdered was not a resident of Villa Victoria.  Nevertheless, and to increase the sense of safety of our residents and the visitors that came to enjoy the festival, police deemed it prudent to have additional presence and visibility for the weekend.  I think that that highly contributed to an enjoyable and safe festival."