Puerto Ricans are famously proud of our red, white and blue flag.
You see it hanging from the rearview mirror in our car, flying on our lawns, embellishing our caps and tees. And dozens gathered to watch the flag unfurl in front of the building where laws like the recent Connecticut-Puerto Rico Trade Commission are passed.
“I love Puerto Rico because my mom was born and raised in the Condado and drove me through El Yunque and showed me Ponce as a little boy,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, “I know how powerful and wonderful Puerto Rico is. I'm going to do everything I can to reestablish, to make sure those relationships between Puerto Rico and Connecticut are strong.”
Hartford’s annual Puerto Rican parade and festival kicked off Thursday with two flag “raisings” — at the Connecticut State Capitol and Hartford’s city hall.
When he’s not running the Connecticut State Capitol Police, Chief Luis Casanova has been known to lead in other ways: most recently, as the parade’s grand marshal in 2023.
“What does Sunday mean to us? For some, it means a party. For me, what it means is resilience. It means pride of our heritage. It means culture,” Casanova said. “It means to the wonderful men and women of Puerto Rico who contributed to this state and to this nation and to the world, we contribute a lot.”
Attendees came from near and far, including honorees who reside on the island and Joe Rodriguez from down in New Haven. He’s the president of Puerto Ricans United, the organization behind New Haven’s Puerto Rican festival. At the first flag raising in Hartford, he emphasized the cultural significance of such events.
“It is important for us to share our story and to tell people who we are, to share our history,” Rodriguez said. “Do not let them write our history. We are our own storytellers.”
This year’s parade specifically honors the city of Ponce. We have Ponce to thank for the musical genres bomba and plena, and the tradition of the vejigantes, folklore characters masked in colorful paper mache.
They’re not a typical sight on the capitol lawn. But they stood there Thursday, looking on with forever-open mouths and big, scary teeth, as the Puerto Rican flag was carefully rolled back up for the next flag raising at Hartford City Hall.
Learn more
The 61st annual Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade and Festival begins at noon Saturday with the march through downtown. Then, the Festival del Coquí takes over Bushnell Park, starting at 2 p.m.
For more information on this and other Hispanic Heritage Month events running through Oct. 15, check out our full guide.
