News

Festival Betances: three days of Latin music, dance, food and fun

by Michele D.  Maniscalco
Thursday Jul 21, 2016

The IBA arts program offered a long weekend of Latin music with the 10th anniversary concert of the Tito Puente Latin Music Series on Thursday, July 17, segueing into Festival Betances, IBA's three day celebration of Puerto Rican arts and culture, which began with a community parade on Friday night, July 15 and offered two days of music, dance, competitions, food and fun through Sunday, July 17.

Festival Betances kicked off as usual with welcomes from the Mayor of Boston and IBA officials including CEO Vanessa Calderón-Rosado at Plaza Betances, 100 West Dedham Street, before the parade, in which city, county and state officials as well as community groups from Boston, Cambridge and other areas in greater Boston joined Villa Victoria residents and IBA staff in a procession circling the Villa Victoria complex. In addition to Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Boston Police Department superintendent in chief William Gross, Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins, state representative Byron Rushing, youth dance groups including the Rolberto Clemente Dancers and Glamorous Divas; the Ellis South End Neighborhood Association; the South End Neighborhood Church; MIT's Casino Rueda salsa-dance group; a contingent from the Methuen Public Schools and the National African Community Organization joined IBA staff and residents in the promenade. Following the parade, Villa Victoria residents were treated to dinner and dessert courtesy of IBA and tables were set up in the plaza facing the festival stage so that guests could savor their dinner and watch the Noche de Bohemia program featuring Edgardo Zayas and his trio who performed sentimental favorites from Puerto Rico with mellow tempos, sweet vocals and delicate guitar work that had many in the audience singing along.

Saturday afternoon mid-90s temperature, oppressive humidity and scorching sun led to smaller than usual crowds for early and mid-afternoon festivities, with fans gathered in the shade right in front of the shade. As dinnertime approached and the sun relented, additional listeners and dancers gathered for the performances. Those who braved the midday sun were treated to high-energy sets by Fabián Torres y su Orquesta playing high energy salsa and merengue; the varied vocal stylings of DJ Scooby Doo, who rapped and sang over recordings in a variety of styles; and a late-afternoon set by Alex Alvear and Mango Blue was met with a bigger crowd as the sun and heat relented somewhat. Despite the heat, the competitive spirit was alive at the festival, with an 18-team domino tournament under a tent at Plaza Betances and a basketball tournament at O'Day Park. A raffle was drawn on Saturday afternoon as well, with lucky winners receiving gift cards valued at $25.00, $50.00 and $100.00 at Vejigantes Restaurant and the grand prize winner receiving two round trip tickets to Puerto Rico with a four day, three night stay at the Rincon Beach Resort.

Sunday's gentler weather conditions drew more customary crowds for the traditional Puerto Rican Greasy Pole contest, in which teams compete to climb to the top of a greased pole and grab the Puerto Rican flag. There were two teams in the contest, the winner receiving $500 and the second place team receiving a $150.00 cash prize. The Latin Logic Band featuring singer/percussionist Manolo Mairena graced the mid-afternoon stage with salsa that filled the plaza with dancing feet. Two youth dance groups, Fuerza Internacional and the Latin Angels, drew throngs of proud parents and friends circling the mid-plaza to cheer on their Latin and hip-hop influenced choreography. The group 5 Pal Batey delivered a melodic set of jibaro, traditional music from the mountains of Puerto Rico. At 5:30 PM, renowned performer and educator Jorge Arce launched a kinetic set in a grand manner, taking the stage with his band, then marching off into the audience with his horn players and backing singer. Arce, whose mission is to promote Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean musical heritages, sang and danced with fans for a few numbers before marching back onto the stage for the rest of his spirited set of bomba and plena dance tunes.

Fuel for hungry revelers on all three days was provided by a host of food stands serving street food, platters and beverages typical of Puerto Rico, including bacalaitos (fried cod fritters), tostones and maduros (two styles of fried plantains), pernil (marinated pork shoulder), empanadillas (meat filled turnovers) and smoothies in mango and other fruit flavors.

This was the rookie year producing Festival Betances for IBA Arts Colombian-born Elsa Mosquera Sterenberg, a native of Colombia who lived in Puerto Rico for 30 years before arriving in Boston two years ago. Mosquera Sterenberg joined IBA last year as director of the arts program and has been involved in special events throughout her career. Reflecting on her past experiences, she said, "The one that resembles Festival Betances the most is the launching of a cultural walking tour in Caguas, Puerto Rico where I coordinated the efforts for La Ruta del Corazón Criollo." Mosquera is pleased with the outcome of her first Festival Betances. "It went well overall. We would have loved to have more people come throughout the weekend but other festivals around Massachusetts were happening during the same weekend." Despite the myriad responsibilities and hectic pace of overseeing such a large, three day community event, Mosquera did get to take in some of the entertainment. "My favorite act was Latin Logic. I believe Manolo Mairena and group are amazing musicians and gave us a great performance. I enjoyed it a lot."