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Date: 6/20/2023
HOLYOKE — A cook out in celebration of the Puerto Rican holiday Noche de San Juan will be on Saturday, June 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Carlos Vega Park, presented by Nueva Esperanza.
Noche de San Juan is celebrated every June 23 as it is an eve of feast for Saint John the Baptist’s birth. In Puerto Rico this celebration marks a holiday spent at the beach as those who celebrate wash away negative or bad energy at the ocean shore at midnight as it becomes Saint John’s birthday.
Nueva Esperanza Executive Director Kayla Rodriguez said the event comes to Holyokers this year as a cookout as opposed to a festival like previous years due to short staffing at Nueva Esperanza. Still, Rodriguez thinks this year’s celebration is gearing up to be a day of fun in the sun and free for everyone.
Rodriguez explained the cookout will be free, feature free food and refreshments from different Holyoke restaurants, vendors, games, a bounce house, prizes, popcorn and cotton candy. Piragua, a Puerto Rican shaved ice dessert, will also be available during the cookout.
There will also be a DJ on scene, and a dance instructor hosting a one-hour free dance class for those in attendance.
She added this year’s cook out will feature an arroz y pernil contest between local restaurants that attendees will decide on. The classic Puerto Rican dish is seasoned roasted pork that is served with rice and beans.
“The contest is who makes the best pernil. We have a couple Spanish restaurants here in Holyoke that are participating,” Rodriguez said.
In keeping with the theme of Noche de San Juan, Rodriguez explained there would be two brand new waterslides alongside the water park on location for children to use during the event.
“That’s why we keep the whole water theme with the slides and the water park, to kind of wash those negative energies away,” Rodriguez said. “For us in Holyoke we decided to do it also because it’s the last week of school, so we want the kids have something for the beginning of summer for them.”
She expressed gratitude for the collaboration from different city groups in organizing the cookout and hopes to return to the previous festival format in future celebrations.
Rodriguez, who grew up in Holyoke as the child of Puerto Rican immigrants, added she is happy to be able to be in a position where she can organize an event that continues the celebration of her and the city’s Puerto Rican culture.