At Seaside Park in Bridgeport Sunday, Natalie Feliz wore overalls that were half red, half blue and star-shaped stickers at the corners of her eyes. Her outfit screamed her home country of the Dominican Republic.
Feliz was among the hundreds of Dominicans and Latinos who participated in the first Dominican Parade in Bridgeport. While sitting at the edge of the float that represented her hometown of Danbury, she said it was an amazing experience that she felt was long overdue.
“All of us in Connecticut gotta go to Manhattan, New York or Massachusetts,” Feliz said about attending a Dominican parade, “but now, we have it in house in Connecticut. I’m very happy.”
Known in the community as Tia Candy, or Auntie Candy, Feliz said she was thrilled to be among her people embracing their culture and helping younger generations do the same.
“For all that new generation that's coming up and growing that are not able to actually go [to] DR, they can experience our culture here,” Feliz said.
On the Danbury float with her was Edwin Lapaix-Matos. He said he also believed there was value in gathering for such a special event like this.
“I think it's important to know where we come from, and to also realize that there's a lot of us,” Lapaix-Matos said. “When you really take into perspective how many people there are here… your eyes open and you realize that you're just a piece of the puzzle.”
It was also an opportunity to create a better image for the Dominican community, he said.
“I like to see everyone's so organized [and] maybe try to clean the name up a little bit,” Lapaix-Matos said. “At other parades, we might have been a little bit too hectic. This one, we're trying to keep it down a little bit. We might have a little bit more fun later on, but for right now, we're trying to keep the composure, keep the music at a level, [and] try to play good music.”
Organizer Ramona Santelises with the Dominican American Coalition of Connecticut echoed that sentiment when addressing attendees at the park’s harbor front amphitheater.
“Let’s make this day a beautiful day,” Santelises said in Spanish on stage at the start of the festival. “Let it go down in history that we Dominicans are good, intelligent and prepared people, that no one can say we’re bad at all, but rather that we’re all hardworking, kind-hearted, humble and loving people.”
A Day for Connecticut’s Dominican Diaspora
Flags of the Dominican Republic could be seen everywhere along the coastline of Bridgeport’s Seaside Park during the parade: off the decorated floats representing different Connecticut cities, on the hoods of luxury sports cars or vintage vehicles and in the hands of people both marching in the parade and cheering from the sidelines.
With the backdrop of the Long Island Sound, the event brought back memories of home for Rafael Pichardo.
“This reminds me of Santo Domingo, what they call the Malecón, in Puerto Plata, which is right by the ocean,” Pichardo said. “This is very similar to how it is over there.”
Pichardo was watching the parade with his wife and two children. He said his whole family is from the Caribbean nation. His family came down from Hartford to be with the community and share in the momentous occasion.
“[The parade] should have been here before, so I'm really happy that they're doing it now,” Pichardo said. “I was just telling my kids that it's important to celebrate the culture and understand what their Dominican culture is about, which is also a way of being American. We're Dominican Americans, so it's important that they understand both cultures.”
Pichardo said he was excited for his kids to see the Diablos Cojuelos, or “limping devils”, in the parade. These characters are a staple to Dominican culture. They wear costumes with bright and bold colors and masks with long horns. They like to come out during carnivals and festivals to cause mischief, scaring folks and having some playful trickster fun.
The Pichardo family got their wish: there were about a dozen Diablos Cojuelos in the parade. They cracked their whips to excited shouts from onlookers and kept the show going when the crowd asked for more.
“It was outstanding,” Esmaelen Arroyo said. Arroyo is a Puerto Rican Bridgeport resident. She was at the parade with her family, including her husband and her daughters who are Puerto Rican and Dominican.
Arroyo said she enjoyed the vibe from the parade but that the procession itself could’ve been better rehearsed.
The parade had several stops throughout its route where cars and folks were standing around and waiting for the parade to keep moving. But Arroyo said she’s cutting them some slack.
“It takes time, you know what I mean? We never had one,” Arroyo said. “So as soon as they get [their] rhythm, and they start doing this every other year, they're gonna get it on point, and it's gonna be even better.”
Arroyo said, besides, it’s about time Dominicans in Connecticut get some love.
“You know why? Because Dominicans never have a Dominican parade,” Arroyo said. “It's best for them to show their culture out to the world, to give each other love and just have a good time. Finally, for once, they have one day for just them.”
Census estimates from 2023 show nearly 50 thousand Dominicans live in the state, ranking as the third largest Hispanic group in Connecticut, after Puerto Ricans and Mexicans.
A festival ‘de pura cepa’
After the parade, people gathered in front of the amphitheater for live music and performances.
People walked around the food trucks and tables of community organizations, some wearing the Dominican flag as capes. Others settled in lawn chairs to enjoy the show. Folks even set up a table to play dominoes, a popular game in the Dominican Republic.
Wanda Hoogleuter was dancing alone on the green, vibing to the bachata coming from the stage. She said she was a Dominican “de pura cepa” from the capital of Santo Domingo, a saying which means an "authentic" Dominican with all the characteristics and pride of the culture.
Hoogleuter said the parade and festival was a wonderful opportunity for her and her people to reconnect with what it means to be from the Dominican Republic.
“The Dominican spirit stays in your blood,” Hoogleuter said in Spanish. “Dominicans migrate to the U.S to have a better quality of life, but they bring in their heart and soul their family and their traditions, and it’s good to embrace that heritage here in Connecticut.”
