Puerto Rican Music Legends and a Comic Book Pioneer Take Center Stage at NYC’s Loisaida Festival

By Sameer Rao May 27, 2016

We reported earlier this month on Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, the comic book writer whose new superhero, "La Borinqueña," will debut at New York City’s Puerto Rican Pride Day Parade this summer. For New Yorkers who can’t wait for the comic or the parade, an upcoming festival offers something to quench your thirst. 

Miranda-Rodriguez will showcase original artwork from his one-off Marvel publication, "Guardians of the Lower East Side," at this weekend’s Loisaida Festival. The festival, entering its 29th year, describes itself on its website as the Lower East Side’s "largest community pride festival." The showcase begins tomorrow (May 28) while the bigger festival takes place Sunday (May 29). 

Named after a regional term for the Lower East Side’s historically Latino (particularly Puerto Rican) Avenue C section, the festival will also include a headlining performance from seminal Puerto Rican singer Iris Chacón, plus sets from other veteran and rising Puerto Rican musicians. 

The festival is supported by long-standing neighborhood cultutral preservation organization Loisaida, Inc. According to a statement emailed to Colorlines by festival promoters, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s office, has officially declared this coming Sunday "Loisaida Festival Day." 

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