Lawrence has always distinguished itself as the city of festivals. In just three months and a few days the year will come to an end and, due to bad weather we could not enjoy the Hispanic Week parade; but we fully enjoyed The Feast of the Italians and the Mahrajan of the Lebanese and the Bread & Roses Festival.
It is not our intention to discourage the organizers of some of these festivals, but we have noticed that every year, attendance at The Feast and Mahrajan have been declining. It is true that the communities that sustained these events, since the closure of the textile factories, have left the city in alarming numbers.
We have had conversations with some residents of the city. For the most part, they agree that it is true that many have left and believe that the reason is because this city is now Hispanic as far as population is concerned.
It is true that due to the exodus of many ethnic groups they have been replaced by Latinos, especially Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. It is also true that by leaving, those worthy organizations must struggle to survive every year and need as much help as they can get from those who moved out of the city.
A good example of this is the success of the Bread & Roses Festival. Many of the participants and even the public who attends are not locals; they come from nearby cities and towns.
And speaking of surrounding cities, we have on our pages photos of the Pow-Wow that was celebrated in the City of Haverhill on Sunday the 8th of this month. It was, in our opinion, a total success with considerable attendance of Latinos, many of them Puerto Ricans, certainly attracted by the participation of the Kasibahagua Taino Cultural Society, an organization of tribes of indigenous singers, musicians, speakers and artists of the Caribbean, most of them Puerto Ricans.
This shows us that if Puerto Ricans can go to Haverhill to support those who promote their culture, others can and should come to Lawrence and support the activities they enjoyed, perhaps when they were children and lived here.
