Springfield's Puerto Rican parade is kicking off for the first time in-person since the pandemic this weekend.
After two years of virtual celebrations on Zoom, parade organizers said they're ready to celebrate in person on Main Street again. The theme of this year's event is ¡Unidos Progresamos! / United we Progress!
Jade Rivera-McFarlin is a member of the parade committee and said the group feels comfortable holding the event in person because the community has a better understand of COVID-19 and its effects.
"We wanted to keep our community safe and now people have a better understanding of the virus. They understand that they need to either have a vaccine or if they want [they should] be masked. They know if they have symptoms to stay home," Rivera-McFarlin said. "So...we're more or less (able to) navigating around the virus a little bit better than we were in the past."
Rivera-McFarlin said committee decided to commemorate the parade's 30th anniversary this year because they couldn't back in 2020. She mentioned that there will be a few surprises for parade goers in addition to the well-known traditions the community loves.
"We really miss is seeing our community," Rivera-McFarlin said. "Being out on Main Street, seeing the sea of flags and really just connecting with people from all over, whether they're Puerto Rican or not, and just having that time to celebrate the Puerto Rican culture and have a really good day."
