Puerto Rican Parade 2023

Crowd waiting at St. Michael's  

The first main intersection, for this year's parade on Scranton is with Clark. Last year the parade was on Fulton [click]. One of the teevee stations had a cameraman on this corner filming. The best fotos of a parade are the ones before the parade starts. I was with my hounds snapping pictures. And people were asking me, "who do you work for?". I asked my nephew, why was i being asked this so often. He says to me, "you're using a camera, everyone else is using a phone".

La Isla del Cordera, The Island of the Lamb. 

The heraldic shield of Puerto Rico is the Lamb and the Seven Seals of the Book of the Apocalypse. This unit is marching for a Baptist church in Middleburg Heights. Until the United States took Puerto Rico from Spain following the war in 1898, the island was Catholic. After that, Protestant proselytising took place, but most heavily it took place in the mainland US, after Puerto Ricans emigrated to the state side. So, areas like Cleveland have a great majority of Protestant Puerto Ricans.

One does not expect to have shofars blown before a Puerto Rican parade. Syncretism? Bugle call?

 

Saint Rocco Crusaders    

People in parades like to be photographed, and groups march to be seen.

frog

New this year is the ten foot Vejigante Gigante. Cleveland has had over fifty Puerto Rican parades. The vejigantes have come in the last few years. Vejigas were cow bladders, blown up and painted like balloons. The Spanish brought this custom over. They are used in Carnaval, and for St. James the Apostle and Moorslayer. At one time, costumed devils and Moors hit people with vejigas on sticks. In the Puerto Rican town of Ponce, vejiga masks are made of papier-mâché and are many horned.

Area code in Pittsburgh is 412.

The librarians are vejigantes. Cleveland Public Library believes in reading, and they are a part of the community. A Carnegie library is near the beginning of the route, across from St. Michael's.

All the canvassing for the only thing on Tuesday's trick and snap election was "NO".

There was folkloric color in this parade with Aztec dancers and vejigantes.