By: Ashmar Mandou

Sinfully delicious alcapurrias and pasteles, check. Domino tables etched in coquis, check. Tents wrapped in cuatros, bongos, and maracas, check. Island sounds echoing through Humboldt Park, check. What’s missing? You. One of the most highly anticipated festivals of the summer, Fiestas Puertorriquena, returns June 14 through June 17 with high energy, show stopping performances from Yolanda Rivera, Lalo Rodriguez, and La Makina. Enjoy a plethora of mom-and-pop restaurants sure to offer up some mouth watering meals, carnival attractions that will have any adult feeling like a kid, again, and the spirit of what makes the Puerto Rican community so great. The festival will reach its high peak on Saturday, June 16 as all of Chicago will be at the 47th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in downtown. This year the parade will be honoring the bearers of life, women. The theme for this year’s parade is “Celebrando La Mujer Boricua” or “Celebrating the Puerto Rican Woman.” The parade’s route begins on Columbus and Balboa. For a complete list of activities, visit www.prpcchicago.org or call 773-292-1414. And once again, Lawndale Bilingual Newspaper will be on hand to share with you all the behind-the-scenes action. See you there!