The 34th Annual [Virtual] Loisaida Festival
This year’s theme, ¡Viva Loisaida!, celebrates the Lower East Side’s roots, the elements that characterize the neighborhood, and its residents’ resiliency, creativity, growth, and unity.
The second [Virtual] Loisaida Festival, its 34th edition went live on two dates, engaging thousands of viewers and still counting. Even though this annual celebration had to stay indoors for another year as a precautionary measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we nonetheless appreciate the enormous support provided by our presenting sponsor Popular Bank and supporters like Acacia Network Inc., Phipps Houses and Hispanic Federation among many others community partners, artists and collaborators.
Part 1: Sunday, May 23 – Featured Puerto Rican folk singer Chabela Rodríguez; world-renowned Mexican singer & actor Fernando Allende; and local independent artist, singer and songwriter Linda Díaz, the winner of NPR’s 2020 Tiny Desk Contest. As well as a short film by the Puerto Rican theater troupe Y No Había Luz, and much more…
Part 2: Sunday, May 30 – The musical lineup includes: Afro-Caribbean/electronic music project ÌFÉ; Afro-Brazilian Samba Reggae All-Female Band Batalá, and acclaimed contemporary R&B Soul-Jazz artist Duendita. Plus it included a monologue excerpt by Loisaida Artistic Residency recipient Haus of Dust and special intervention by poet Edwin Torres plus much more…
The official artwork for the 34th Annual [Virtual] Loisaida Festival was created by João Salomão, a local Brazilian artist also known as PIXOTE, whose distinctive style is heavily influenced by the Brazilian Pixação graffiti tradition. The commemorative poster for this year’s festival was inspired by the LES punk and hip hop’s NYC graffiti scene of the late eighties and nineties that helped form João’s artistic practice. With this year’s design, the artist also pays homage to Loisaida’s documentary photographer Marlis Momber, also well known as the co-producer of “Viva Loisaida”, a 1978 film documenting life in the late 70’s Loisaida neighborhood.
Since 1987, the Loisaida Festival has honored its history by providing a platform to celebrate arts & culture through music, dance, arts, cuisine, and other cultural manifestations representative of the diverse ethnic groups and nationalities that make up the fabric of the neighborhood. It also serves as a vehicle to share information and spread awareness about local community and city-wide initiatives and resources as well as year-round community programming by Loisaida, Inc. Finally, we are inviting Community Partners to submit a short video message to include during the live programming, please visit this link for more information.
Loisaida Inc. programs are supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, NYS Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Hispanic Federation, Promesa Foundation, Stonewall Foundation, Ford Foundation, MOSAIC Foundation of the New York Community Trust and the Howard Gilman Foundation.