BoriquaFest celebrates Puerto Rican music, favorite foods

A sip of pina colada followed by sauntering to the Jíbaro beats - this is how you refresh a sweltering weekend with the tropical breeze from Puerto Rico.

Saturday, the BoriquaFest, a celebration of Puerto Rican traditions, will return to Elgin. From noon to 11 p.m., visitors, performers, and local restaurants will fill the Civic Center Plaza.

"It has a very local focus to it," said Gil Feliciano president of the Puerto Rican Heritage Organization, which is organizing this event.

He said the Elgin festival drew a crowd of about 3,000 people last year, and is the third in Illinois, after Puerto Rican fiestas in Chicago and Aurora. Originally known as the "Puerto Rican festival," it gained its current name in 2006.

"Boriqua comes from the indigenous Taino Indians, and it means 'land of the noble lord'," Feliciano said. Nowadays, Boriqua has become a popular greeting among Puerto Ricans.

Besides language, another shortcut to Puerto Rican culture is its music. Jíbaro, the folk tunes favored by sugar cane workers, will evoke the flavor of the islands.

Saturday's music bash will also show the influence of Caribbean countries. Everyone will be invited to a mass Merengue dance, which comes from Dominican Republic. Milwaukee band Nabori is bringing an alternative interpretation of Cuban salsa, the Salsa Brava. The new genre found home on the streets of Latin Harlem in New York and barrios in Puerto Rico, according to the group's website.

Another mainstay of the celebration is Puerto Rican food.

Rellenos de papa is a dish of deep-fried mash potatoes stuffed with seasoned ground meat and other seasonings. Pastelito, rice pillows stuffed with pork and vegetables, is another Puerto Rican favorite.

This year, kids will have some new activities to choose from.

"We want our kids to have fun because that's what we want to do. But we also want to give them the opportunity to learn something, as well," Feliciano said. "We're devising ways to implement what we call, 'edutainment'. So educational and entertaining."

Toward this goal, festival organizers partnered with the Gail Borden Public Library for storytime programs. Topics range from Puerto Rican handicrafts to the history of Taino Indian, according to Feliciano.

The vejigantes, clown-like characters unique to the Puerto Rican culture, also will play with kids in their signature bright colored jumpsuits.

George Irizarry has been involved with the festival for almost 20 years. The attraction of the Boriqua Fest hardly fades in his eyes. But the Elgin resident has more to look forward to this year.

"We are encouraging more young people to join in, not just the old folks out there," he said.