ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The 54th Puerto Rican Festival wrapped up Saturday night at Parcel Five in downtown Rochester, marking a change in location after some time at Innovative Field.

Many of the folks News10NBC spoke with have been coming to this festival for years and say Parcel Five was the perfect change in venue, giving everyone plenty of space to safely celebrate the heritage, food, and music this festival is known for.

“Every year. Every year. We enjoy going to the festival. All three days,” said Armando Carrero, who says going to the Puerto Rican Festival is a family tradition. “It’s very attractive event. Ya know, it’s cultural what we have, one time a year, so we try to enjoy our best, ya know.”

Carrero says he’s happy to wait in line for security before going into the festival. Along with private security, Rochester Police have been stationed around all corners of Parcel Five to make sure everyone is safe and able to have a good time.

“They are doing a great job. Let me tell you. Ya know it’s like. You feel safe. You don’t have to be looking over your shoulder. Enjoy the music. Enjoy the environment. I think it’s great,” Carrero said.

After moving from its long-time location at Innovative Field to Parcel Five, Puerto Rican Festival Vice President Leslie Rivera says she has been happy with the response.

“It feels great. We spend all year working on this. It feels really nice to be able to give something back to our community. All of us who sit on the board do this no payment, ya know, free of charge because we love what we do and want to put on something magical for our community,” Rivera said.

Especially with the recent violence in parts of Rochester, Rivera says she couldn’t be prouder to see the community come out and celebrate.

“It’s important for everyone to feel safe. We have our guards make sure that nothing is coming in that would put anybody at risk and they do a really really good job,” Rivera said.

So festivalgoers like Carrero can focus on what the festival is all about, heritage, family, music, and of course, food.

“What’s your favorite thing to eat while you’re here? Oh my god, we eat the pinchos. We eat rose cone. Ya know we eat everything we can,” Carrero said.

It’s unclear right now if the Puerto Rican Festival will be held at Parcel Five again next year, but based on how well this year’s festival went, organizers may bring it back to the downtown location.

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