North Jersey Peruvian parade is on for Sunday. Here's who will run it after legal battle

PATERSON — A court ruling this week settled a legal battle over who would be allowed to run Sunday’s annual Peruvian festival and parade, which winds through Passaic, Clifton, and Paterson.

In recent years, those festivities repeatedly have been clouded by controversy and cultural factionalism.

In 2019, Paterson refused to give the parade a permit because it didn’t pay its fees the previous year, forcing the normally three-town procession to stop at the city’s border. In 2020, a lawsuit claimed the parade queen never received her $1,000 prize because of the organizers’ financial problems.

In 2022, litigation filed by one faction of the Passaic County Peruvian community against another alleged financial misconduct within the parade group, prompting a judge to appoint a special master to oversee the organization.

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Last year, social media photos of piles of garbage and empty alcohol bottles left behind at the festival prompted Paterson council members to say the group should be fined for dumping.

The 2024 version of Peruvian parade conflict came in the form of another lawsuit, this one filed by a Paterson doctor, Hector Castillo, who claimed Paterson officials wrongly denied his application to run the events as Peruvian Parade Inc., and instead granted the permits to New Jersey Peruvians Inc.

But Superior Court Judge Frank Covello on Monday ruled that the New Jersey Peruvians group could go ahead with the festival and parade.

Rival groups sought permit to run parade

In their court filings, city officials said New Jersey Peruvians submitted their permit application weeks before Castillo did for Peruvian Parade Inc. The city also said that Peruvian Parade was ineligible for a permit because it still owed Paterson $14,600 from last year’s events.

Court records say Castillo this spring offered to give the city a check for the unpaid balance from 2023. The city told him to make it a certified check because other checks from last year had bounced.

Castillo — who during the past 22 years has made unsuccessful runs for mayor, governor, state senator, and Passaic County Commissioner — argued that Peruvian Parade Inc. has been running the event for the past 38 years and should not be derailed in its effort to continue that tradition.

Castillo also accused Paterson councilwoman Maritza Davila — who will be grand marshal of this year’s parade — of abusing her influence as a city official to steer the parade to a group she supports.

Several key members of the New Jersey Peruvians organization have been longtime supporters of Mayor Andre Sayegh. Some of them also had been part of the Peruvian Parade group in recent years. In contrast, Castillo has not played a prominent role in the parade organization until this year.

In response to Castillo’s criticism of her, Davila called the doctor “a liar.”

“He makes up a lot of stuff that’s not true,” the councilwoman said.

Davila said the judge’s decision on Monday affirmed Paterson’s handling of the competing parade permit applications.

“I’m happy the city was able to show there was no wrongdoing,” she said.

The parade is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Sunday in Passaic at the corner of Main and Passaic streets. It will then follow Main through Clifton and Paterson into the Silk City’s downtown area. The festival will be in the Memorial Drive area of downtown.

The police department is supposed to provide 160 officers for the parade and 80 for the festival, according to the parade contract. The total police cost for the event is estimated at $103,200 and the parade group will be required to pay 40% of that, or $41,280, as stipulated by city ordinance, said the contract.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey Peruvian parade is on for Sunday. Here's who will run it after legal battle