Rain doesn’t put damper on festivals

NEW HAVEN — Rainy weather Saturday forced the New Haven Puerto Rican Festival off the New Haven Green and indoors as well as making the Physical Freedom Festival in North Haven a quasi-indoor event.

The third annual New Haven Puerto Rican Festival was scheduled to offer activities on the Green from 1 to 9 p.m. But on Saturday morning, officials with Puerto Ricans United Inc. issued a news release announcing the move indoors because of “the approaching severe weather.”

Instead, a free concert was held at 6 p.m. at Bregamos Community Theater on Blatchley Avenue. On the bill were several local bands as well as Oscar Serrano from Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, the Physical Freedom Festival got underway at 11 a.m. at the North Haven Fairgrounds as rain began to fall. The event, organized by the Pullano family of North Haven, was held to benefit the Spina Bifida Association. Their elder daughter was diagnosed with a rare medical condition in 1997, motivating them to hold fundraisers for research into finding a cure.

An organizer and spokeswoman for the festival, Holy LaPrade, said over the phone Saturday morning: “We are here and people are starting to arrive.”

She said the fairgrounds has two large buildings to shelter participants from the bad weather. Tents were also set up on the grounds.

“We’re hoping it can’t rain all day,” LaPrade added.

The schedule called for musical acts to perform periodically throughout the day, lasting until 9 p.m.

Outdoor events across the state were jeopardized by the rain, as well as by a Saturday morning flash flood watch issued by the National Weather Service. The watch extended into Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service announcement noted: “With two to five inches of rainfall since the start of the month, the river basins of Northeastern New Jersey, the Lower Hudson Valley and Southwestern Connecticut are particularly vulnerable to flash flooding. This is especially true for areas along quick-responding creeks, streams and small rivers that are already running at above normal levels for this time of the year.”

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Adrian Everett, of Wallingford, goes over his raffle tickets during the second Physical Freedom Festival fundraiser on Saturday at the North Haven Fairground to benefit Spina Bifida research. Despite the rain, many activities were brought inside the fairground barn that included local bands who provided entertainment. Spina Bifida is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord.

Marisol Rosario, Luis Miranda and Maritza Rivera, all of New Haven hang out outside of the Bregamos Community Theater at the Puerto Ricans United, Inc. third annual Puerto Rican Festival of New Haven on Saturday. The event, originally planned for the New Haven Green was moved to the theater on Blatchley Avenue and could not accomodate the large crowd.

Catherine Avalone / Hearst Connecticut Media Willie DeJesus and Marian Nunez dance to the sounds of the Latin music of Orquesta Afinke at Puerto Ricans United, Inc. third annual Puerto Rican Festival of New Haven on Saturday at the Bregamos Community Theater at Blatchley Avenue.