New Yorkers Celebrate Puerto Rican Pride At Heritage Festival
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- Puerto Rican pride is being celebrated this weekend.
The popular 116th Street festival kicked off the celebrations at noon on Saturday.
The Abrazo Fraternal Festival was held along 116th Street between Lexington and 2nd avenues and on 3rd Avenue between 106th and 122nd streets.
Up to 100,000 people were expected to attend, according to organizers.
"The parade is important to me because of the heritage that we're celebrating. And then also the energy that everybody brings together, it's just amazing," one attendee told 1010 WINS' Gary Baumgarten.
"It's about ethnic pride and everybody having a good time," another attendee said.
"What it signifies is over 500,000 Puerto Ricans in the United States that gravitate to New York to commemorate this very important occasion," another attendee said.
The event serves as a warm-up for Sunday's Puerto Rican Day Parade along 5th Avenue, which will run from 44th Street to 79th Street.
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