Festival Nacional Afrocaribeño Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Festival Nacional Afrocaribeño
Typical poster used to announce the Festival
Official name	Festival Nacional Afrocaribeño de Puerto Rico
Also called	Festival Afrocaribeño
Type	Local, cultural
Celebrations	Music, food, dancing, crafts, rides
Date	Last weekend of June
Frequency	Yearly
First time	1999

The Festival Nacional Afrocaribeño (which means National Afro-Caribbean Festival) is a fun yearly event held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It takes place at the Ángel "Cuqui" Mangual baseball field in the La Cuarta neighborhood. This celebration usually lasts for three days in late June. It's known as a "world-class" event that brings together amazing musicians who play salsa, bomba, plena, and merengue music. About 30,000 people come to enjoy the festival!

The main goal of the festival is to celebrate and keep alive the rich traditions of Afro-Caribbean culture in Puerto Rico. It also highlights the important contributions that Puerto Ricans of African heritage have made to the island's culture and society.

Festival History
What Happens at the Festival?
Cost to Attend
Typical Event Schedule
See also

Festival History

This festival started in the late 1990s. It was created to help the community of La Cuarta. At that time, the community faced some challenges. The festival aimed to bring people together and make residents feel proud of their neighborhood. From its humble beginnings, La Cuarta has become a place full of tradition.

The community of La Cuarta is located right between the cities of Ponce and Juana Diaz. It was founded a long time ago, in the early 1900s, near a sugar cane factory that no longer exists.

What Happens at the Festival?

The Festival Nacional Afrocaribeño is organized by a group called Comité Pro Nuestra Cultura. Their leader is Ángel 'Papote' Alvarado Aguilera. More than 20 artists perform during the three-day event.

The festival's main purpose is to show off the Afro-Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean roots of the people of Puerto Rico. It also helps the community grow through education and social activities. Another important goal is to change any negative ideas people might have about communities that face challenges.

Many famous musical groups have performed at the festival over the years. Some of these include Tommy Olivencia and his band, El Gran Combo, La Sonora Ponceña, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Victor Manuel, and Plena Libre.

Cost to Attend

It's free for everyone to attend the festival! However, people are encouraged to give a small donation of $1 if they can. The group that organizes the event used to get money from the governments of Ponce and Juana Diaz. But since 2017, this help stopped because of money problems those governments were having. The last time the Ponce government contributed was in 2016, and it was about 5% of the festival's total cost.

Typical Event Schedule

Here's an example of the music lineup from a past festival (this was the schedule for the 2017 event):

Friday:

8:00 p.m.: Secreto a Voces
9:00 p.m.: Tego Calderón
11:00 p.m.: Plenéalo

Saturday:

8:30 p.m.: Bomba Evolución
9:30 p.m.: Tribute to Giovanni Hidalgo and José Mañengue Hidalgo
10:00 p.m.: Grupo Esencia
11:00 p.m.: La Sonora Ponceña

Sunday:

4:00 p.m.: Isabel Albizu Bomba School
6:00 p.m.: Bomba IYA
7:00 p.m.: Tribute to La Cuarta's Past Musicians
7:30 p.m.: Guayacanes de San Antón
8:30 p.m.: Tribute to Ángel "Cholo" Espada
9:30 p.m.: Tommy Olivencia

Festival Nacional Afrocaribeño facts for kids

Contents

Festival History

What Happens at the Festival?

Cost to Attend

Typical Event Schedule

See also