Holyoke is alive with the sounds of the Fiestas Patronales de Holyoke, a four-day long festival dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Our Lady of Guadalupe and includes a wide variety of music styles and genres as well as dancing, plenty of authentic foods in a comfortable family setting alongside the Holyoke Children’s Museum on Dwight Street.
Melvis Romero, former Holyoke police officer and now the head of security for the festival said the Fiestas Patronales are held across Latin America and especially in Puerto Rico.
“This is a long-held heritage. It comes from years and years in Puerto Rico. Every town would have them yearly and people from other towns would come to celebrate in the plaza,” he said. “The music is for everybody. You might like marange, or you might like salsa or the musica tipika.”
Romero described “musica tipika” as early Spanish-influenced music from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The city long held family-oriented celebrations of culture, Romero said, known as the Family Hispanic festivals. Those were suspended about five years ago, he said. When it came time to resurrect the festivals, a younger group wanted to change the focus to embrace the island heritage and the Fiestas Patronales.
The change in philosophy comes at a time when the city has elected its first Puerto Rican mayor, who leads a new growing Hispanic cadre of businesspeople in the city.
Mayor Joshua Garcia said celebrating diversity has long been a Holyoke attribute.
“Holyoke has always embraced different cultures,” he said Saturday, as he and his family enjoyed the music. “In every corner of the city we have a lot of diversity. When we embrace peoples’ cultures and traditions it helps to elevate pride in our community. What unites us is being Holyokers. The Irish community, the Puerto Rican community, the Polish community – we celebrate all the cultures and come together as Holyokers.”
The Fiestas Patronales de Holyoke started Thursday night with musical performances on the main stage erected on Dwight Street next to City Hall and will continue through Sunday.
Romero said food trucks parked strategically around the festival area provide authentic Puerto Rican cuisine at remarkably modest prices, he said.
Also part of the festival is a car show highlighting the work of local owners. Co-organizer Justin Sanchez said the show is designed around giving local owners a chance to show off their hard work.
“There are no special criteria for judging,” he said. “We are going to look for creativity in your work. Don’t go out and buy a Lamborghini and expect to win here. You can buy anything pre-made. We want to see your own work.”
The 40 to 50 cars lined up along closed-off Dwight Street were mostly mid-priced Toyota or Nissans with an occasional Honda thrown in. But each was painted, waxed and buffed to a high shine.
“That’s what we want to see,” Sanchez said. “We want someone who built their own car and put in all the hard work.”
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