The Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade brought thousands to the Capital City

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Hundreds of Puerto Rican flags were waving Sunday in Hartford for the Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Cheering and waving marchers lined the streets from Frog Hollow to Bushnell park.

The Connecticut Institute for Community Development throws this annual parade, now in it’s 60th  year, and for many families its like being on their home island.

“Being Puerto Rican is a really good thing ‘cause our culture has been around for many years and we’re here to embrace it,” said a young man with his family..

The parade took a new route this year, and the three thousand marchers walked almost two miles across the city. The young attendees were some of the most excited.

“I came to the parade because it’s fun here and there’s a lot of things to do,” a young girl said curbside.

The music and dancing got people moving and drove up the energy. One group flew in from Ponce last night dressed in colorful costumes based on iconic Puerto Rican characters.

Geobany Rodriguez was one of the visitors from the island and he told News 8, “The vejigante is a traditional character we use in Puerto Rico in every carnival. We visited every city, every town in every Puerto Rico the whole year.”

No parade would be complete without royalty. The current and past Misses Puerto Rico marched along with the parade.

A former Miss Puerto Rico said, “We just want to educate people about the culture, our tradition and we welcome everyone, we love Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico representa, aqui estamos para representar aqui a nuestra isla.”

If you weren’t able to come out today, don’t worry. The parade can be viewed in its entirety here on News 8 .

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