Flag Now Up, Fest Coming Soon

As rain came down, this year’s Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven, Alanna Herbert, stepped to the microphone and filled the Green with her voice as she sang the national anthem. Behind her was the Puerto Rican flag, grand and waving in the wind, ready to be raised.

That was the scene on the New Haven Green at noon on Thursday, as a crowd gathered to celebrate the annual raising of the Puerto Rican flag ahead of Saturday’s Puerto Rican Festival on the Green. The festival draws thousands of visitors to downtown New Haven. From city alders to notable community figures to government officials, the center of the Green was bustling.

While Herbert — a rising senior at Common Ground — would have preferred to perform ​“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” she still had fun and was happy to put her theatre and singing experience to use.

“It felt good to be able to sing in front everyone, to have that opportunity, but also to be able to represent what I hope is a good role model for young Boricuas,” she said. She’s been going to the festival since was a kid.

Herbert has been Miss Puerto Rico since April, but since she was invited to the flag raising last year after winning runner-up, she was no stranger to the event. This year, she was joined by Junior Miss Puerto Rico and East Rock School student Lysella Pujols, and the two proudly stood by the speakers wearing crowns, sashes, and red and green dresses, with smiles on their faces.

Puerto Ricans United — the organization that puts on the annual Puerto Rican Festival — President Joseph Rodriguez spearheaded the flag-raising event, and he was joined by speakers Mayor Justin Elicker, State Sen. Pro Tem Martin Looney, State Rep. Juan Candelaria, and CT LEAD — Latinos for Educational Advocacy and Diversity — CEO Jose Lucas Pimentel.

“Como está mis Boricuas?” Elicker asked with a grin as he addressed the crowd, before erupting into song — the bolero ​“En mi Viejo San Juan” by Noel Estrada. The crowd cheered and sang along.

“Pero mi corazón / se quedo frente al mar / en mi viejo San Juan.”

“He’s dropping an album!” a crowd member cried.

“I love Puerto Rico, and I’ve never been,” Elicker said. Then, ​“But I have been, because Puerto Rico is in New Haven. Thousands of people in our community have roots in Puerto Rico.”

Looney later agreed, and expressed his appreciation for the presence of the Puerto Rican community. ​“Every neighborhood in this city and every community in this state has benefited from the presence of Puerto Ricans here, with the culture, with the work ethic, with the contribution to the sense of community and the sense that government should work for the people.”

When Candelaria spoke, he reflected on the song ​“En mi Viejo San Juan.”

“It took me back to the island, when we left as kids,” he said. ​“Like the song says, part of you stays on the island and you miss it. But New Haven became our home.”

Rodriguez described what the community will be able to expect for Saturday’s event. There will be live music from a lineup of performers that includes major artists like Luis Figueroa and Manny Manuel and New Haven-based Movimiento Cultural. There will also be food trucks, family activities, and arts & crafts. While New Haven’s had a rainy week, the possibility for a clear Saturday has organizers hopeful.

Finally, it was time for the flag. As Ana Garcia performed Puerto Rico’s official anthem ​“La Borinqueña,” Parks Department employee Edwin Rodriguez handled the ropes and raised the flag. The crowd watched and listened.

Crowd member Anais Nunec was dressed for the occasion, with a wearable and hooded Puerto Rican flag wrapped around her body. Her daughter participated in the Miss Puerto Rico pageant, and while she might have lost, Nunec still wanted to see the flag raising. She said she couldn’t miss it.

“I wanted to cry, it was so amazing,” she said. ​“I miss home.”