Patchogue Unidos!

The second annual Hispanic Heritage parade, originally scheduled to take place at noon on Sunday, Aug. 20, will now take place on Sept. 24, in an attempt to bring it closer to Hispanic Heritage Month.

The event, to be held on Main Street in Patchogue Village, will feature a bilingual mix of Hispanic parade dancers from the Greater Patchogue Foundation’s Cultural Heritage committee, and more.

David Kennedy, executive director of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber’s foundation is happy to co-sponsor the parade with the village.

“This is something very important to our very vibrant Hispanic community, and we’re glad to be bringing it back again this year and making it a new tradition,” he said. “We all agreed it made a lot more sense to hold it in September.”

Last year’s first annual Hispanic Heritage parade was also scheduled for September, but was rescheduled for October due to rain.

“We were on hold because summertime seems a hard time for businesses,” said event organizer and trustee Lizbeth Carrillo. “We wanted change the date for more businesses to be a part of this great parade.”

According Carrillo, the original idea of the parade was to not only showcase the Hispanic community with their differences, but to also show all their similarities through bilingual expression. 
“We are different, these are our beautiful colors, look at our culture and dance, but at the same time we are the same, just like you,” Carrillo explained of her thought process. “We’re inviting the community to come celebrate.”

This year’s theme will be “unity”—meaning, according to Carrillo, all businesses will be involved and celebrate with lots of colors and music.

Last year, she chose “bilingual” as the theme, so that no one feels out of place and the English-speaking community can feel more inclusive, as a learning and educational experience about the Hispanic culture.

The committee is also still seeking business sponsors. Of the sponsors, The Long Island Advance has already signed up. To sponsor the event, email Carrillo at lcarrillo@patchoguevillage.org.