Puerto Rican festival returns to the Fox Valley
Elgin resident Wilson Vega came to Elgin from Puerto Rico in 1965 and was involved in the annual Puerto Rican festival formerly known as BoriquaFest until it was disbanded in 2013 after 20 years.
After three years and a few fundraisers, Vega, along with other members of the Elgin nonprofit organization Raices Boricuas, was able to raise enough money to bring the festival back.
"I just started this year back again. I have to start back up from nothing," said Vega, who is the president of Raices Boricuas. "It's nice to show the traditions to the Puerto Rican people, especially the young people that forget about the traditions of Puerto Rico."
BoriquaFest was discontinued because the president of Elgin's Puerto Rican Heritage Organization wanted the organization to focus more on community service and providing scholarships, according to a previous Daily Herald report. The festival was absorbed into iFest, an international festival to celebrate Elgin's diversity.
Raices Boricuas was able to raise money through garage sales and dances to make the festival happen this year from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, in Vasa Park, 35W217 Route 31, South Elgin.
"We don't have any money. We are doing the best we can. There's not much we can do. We started from scratch," Vega said.
The Raices Boricuas festival is a way for the organization to raise money to continue the festival next year, help the Puerto Rican community in Elgin and show people Puerto Rican traditions. Raices Boricuas treasurer Alex Feliciano hopes the organization can raise between $6,000 and $10,000 at the festival.
"The organization that we have is to show the people from Illinois the value of our roots and let them know that we cannot lose the value of being Puerto Rican," Feliciano said.
The festival provides organizers and Puerto Rican community members a chance to share their culture with not only other community members but their children who were born in the United States.
"This for me is great because sometimes I have my son that asks me where we came from, the culture. I want them to know what my life was like (in Puerto Rico)," Feliciano said.
Some Puerto Rican traditions people can expect to see at the festival include La Plena, traditional music and dance from Ponce, as well as music from a Puerto Rican cuatro, a guitar-like instrument unique to Puerto Rico.
"You can hardly see that anymore in any place so we are trying to bring that to life again," Feliciano said.
About 7,000 people attended BoriquaFest in its last years, but due to its absence, Vega expects attendance at the Raices Boricuas festival this year to only reach around 1,000 people.
People can also enjoy live music such as bachata, merengue and salsa, and a bounce house for kids. Traditional Puerto Rican food will be available, including pastelillos, a small, fried turnover with thin dough and usually meat on the inside; roasted pig; Mexican food and other treats.
"This is going to be a family festival so it's going to be fun," Feliciano said. "I hope that everything goes well and everybody has fun."
Raices Boricuas festival is free and open to everyone in the community. Find Raices Boricuas on Facebook.