Annual Hispanic Fiesta Brings a Weekend of Hispanic Heritage to Penn’s Landing

Submitted by: Laurie Heinerichs, Director of Marketing, Public Relations & Sales, Delaware River Waterfront Corporation

Hosted by the Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations, Inc. (Concilio), the Hispanic Fiesta will include a variety of folkloric music, dancing, entertainment, art, crafts and cuisine.  As part of the PECO Multicultural Series, the history and heritage of Hispanic culture will be celebrated on the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing on Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street on Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. This year, the Hispanic Fiesta at Penn’s Landing is presented by State Farm.

The Hispanic Fiesta will feature two exciting days packed with music, dance, entertainment and authentic Latin American cuisine.  Salsa favorite Michael Stuart will be perform on Saturday July 14^th.  On Sunday, July 15^th two headliners are featured, bachata sensation Andy Andy and merengue Grupo Oro Solido. 

Other local and regional artists performing  at this year’s Hispanic Fiesta include: Alex Alex; Batucada de Puerto Rico; Amla’s Jazz Band; Tony Tony; the Jimmy George Band; D’lyone; Salsa Klabe; various Latin dance groups and many more.

In addition to the music of Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, salsa, bachata, merengue, and musica urbana, the Fiesta will showcase artisan crafts and authentic foods from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Colombia, and other parts of Latin America.

This free Fiesta works to publicize the importance of the Latino culture and the contribution of the Hispanic community to the Philadelphia region. It is one of the many cultural events hosted by The Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations of Philadelphia (Concilio).  Concilio is celebrating its 50^th Anniversary in 2012.  Concilio is a non-profit organization based in North Philadelphia and focused on providing a variety of social service programs to families in need (including foster and respite care, summer youth programming, housing counseling, and immunization outreach). 

Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events.  KYW Newsradio and NBC 10 are proud media partners of the series.

PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia region’s most active corporate citizens, contributing about $5 million in grant support annually to leading educational, environmental, arts and culture and community development organizations. The company’s employees volunteer thousands of hours of time and talent each year as board members, volunteers, fundraisers, coaches and mentors. 

The company has a strong tradition of community leadership and puts its energy into programs that have a meaningful, measurable impact on the Philadelphia region.

To learn more about PECO’s contributions and programs, visit www.peco.com/community.

Public Programming at Penn’s Landing would not be possible without the continued support of corporate partners such as PECO, Verizon, Pennsylvania Lottery, Coca-Cola Refreshments-Philadelphia, and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, all of whom are committed to serving the Greater Philadelphia community.

The 2012 Summer Program of Free Events at Penn’s Landing is funded and produced by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC).  All events produced by DRWC are FREE to the public on the RiverStage at the Great Plaza, the heart of Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia’s premier Delaware River waterfront entertainment destination. 

DRWC is a nonprofit corporation created in January 2009 exclusively for the benefit of the City of Philadelphia and its citizens. The fundamental purpose of DRWC is to design, develop, and manage the central Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia. DRWC is transforming the waterfront into a vibrant destination location for recreational, cultural, and commercial activities for the residents and visitors of Philadelphia.

For more information and event details, please call (215) 922-2FUN or visit: www.delawareriverevents.com.   This website is a virtual resource for the waterfront which can help visitors plan to easily park, play, and stay all day at Penn’s Landing.