Villa Victoria celebrates its past and future

Festival Betances draws thousands

Although the weekend weather was a split decision with a brilliantly sunny, pleasant Saturday and periods of rain on Sunday, Festival Betances at Villa Victoria's Plaza Betances, 100 W. Dedham St., drew approximately 2,500 people throughout the weekend to enjoy music, dance, visual art, athletic competition, food and pride in Puerto Rican culture.

Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción ((BA) CEO Vanessa Calderón-Rosado estimated attendance at 1,500 on Saturday and about 1,000 on Sunday, and the show went on all afternoon and into the evening on the main stage in Plaza Betances both days. From the kick-off parade at 1:15 PM on Saturday through headliner Andy Montañez's extra-long set on Sunday evening, the festival celebrated the grassroots heritage and endurance of IBA, which began in 1968 with a group of Puerto Rican residents who sought not to be driven out of their neighborhood by urban renewal and worked with the city of Boston to create a complex that now encompasses over 500 residential units and cradle to grave community services.

As in previous years, the festival was the culmination of four days of IBA arts festivities, starting with Thursday night's performance by Eguie Castrillo y Mar del Norte at the Tito Puente Latin Music Series at O'Day Playground, followed by a Friday night performance in Plaza Betances just for Villa Victoria residents by the Puerto Rico-based theatrical group Agua, Sol y Sereno which presented an original piece, "Comer (to Eat)" which decries the hunger crisis in Puerto Rico following last fall's devastating Hurricane Maria and offers solutions and support to disaster victims.

Calderón-Rosado described this year's parade as having a "carnival feel," with Agua, Sol y Sereno dancing and singing on stilts. The parade included prominent nods both to 19th century physciian and nationalist hero Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and seminal IBA executive director and community activist Jorge Hernandez, who were memorialized by performers wearing cabezudos (large masks) depicting both men and participants in IBA's youth programs chanting "No nos mudaremos de la Parcela 19" (We won't be moved from Parcel 19), the rallying cry of the activists who fought for the creation of Villa Victoria.

Following the parade, the main stage rang out with salsa from Grupo Chévere; traditional Puerto Rican bomba and plena music by musician/educator Jorge Arce; Dominican singers Gilenny Gi and Erikk Santana; salsa by Frankie Rodriguez and the night's headliner, Giro López. During the afternoon, the Youth Hour featured an energetic, acrobatic set by youth dance troupe, Area 51. Also on Saturday afternoon, La Galería at Villa Victoria Center for the Arts was open with the exhibit, "The Power of Voice", which combines visual and performance art to tell the chronicle the history of Villa Victoria and IBA. At O'Day Playground, a basketball tournament occupied both courts.

While the rainy forecast seems to have discouraged teams from competing in the traditional Palo Enceba'o (Greased Pole) contest, causing the first-ever cancelation of the pole-climbing competition, the stage remained lively with the sounds of percussionist Zayra Pola and her group, 3Nity; mambo and salsa by Eguie Castrillo and his Big Band; balladeer Julio César Sanabria; and the festival headliner, Latin Grammy winner and salsa legend, Andy Montañez, who invited Sanabria on stage during a set that extended overtime by popular demand.

Prior to Montañez's rousing festival finale, a raffle was drawn, awarding gift certificates to Vejigantes Restaurant, 57 W. Dedham St., to three runners-up and the grand prize, a trip to Puerto Rico, to Rafael Claudio.