The 39th Annual Loisaida Festival
Organized by Losiaida, Inc.
Sunday May 24th, 12pm-5pm
For nearly four decades, the Loisaida Festival has stood as one of the Lower East Side’s most cherished public traditions, bringing together residents, artists, families, merchants, community organizations, and visitors in a joyful celebration of the neighborhood’s enduring cultural life. In a community shaped by Puerto Rican, Nuyorican and immigrant histories, and one that continues to confront the pressures of displacement and cultural erasure, the Festival remains a powerful affirmation of presence, memory, and collective pride.
This year’s theme, “Our AmeRícan Thing,” reflects our commitment to celebrating Loisaida not only as a geographic place, but as a language, a rhythm, and a way of belonging carried through music, poetry, theater, food, and shared community experience. Inspired by the spirit of Jesús “Tato” Laviera, the theme seeks to honor the neighborhood not through nostalgia alone, but through renewed energy, hope, imagination, and the living future we continue to shape together.
The 39th Annual Loisaida Festival, historically celebrated on the Sunday before Memorial Day, will take place on Sunday, May 24, 2026, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM, spanning Avenue C / Loisaida Avenue from East 12th Street to East 5th Street. As the Lower East Side’s largest Puerto Rican heritage and Latinx neighborhood block party, the Festival will once again feature a rich multidisciplinary program across several activations throughout the Festival footprint.
This year’s Main Stage, co-hosted by Giraldo Alvare and Caridad de la Luz, will feature local and guest artists including Daso y el Grupo Cemí feat. Daydrian and Bebé Bambú, Grupo Kandela, Legacy Women, Las Mariposas Galácticas, and John Benítez & Revolution Latin Jazz. Featured activations will also include street-level programming by BombaYo, the Nuyorican Poets Café, and Batalá NY; performances at Francisco Pancho Ramos Community Garden by YoToco and Grupo Fascinantes; and a dynamic TheaterLab at La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden featuring artists such as Fernandito Ferrer, Dorill Initiative, Atisferio, Loisaida Conjunto de Plena, and visiting urban artist Guada from Puerto Rico, among others. We are also especially excited that this year’s Festival will include the 40th Anniversary celebration of PRIDA (Puerto Rican Institute for the Development of the Arts) along Avenue C between East 5th and 6th Streets, as well as Somos Arte’s La Borinqueña Superhéroe Workshop and a Vejigante mask-making pop-up at Piragüa Art Space on 10th Street.
As part of this year’s celebration, Loisaida, Inc. will also honor a distinguished group of community leaders, cultural workers, and neighborhood champions through the Viva Loisaida! Awards. This year’s honorees are Council Member Chris Marte, recognized for his public service and steadfast advocacy for Lower Manhattan; Naomi Peña, for her leadership in education justice, family advocacy, and community empowerment; David Sanders, for his longstanding grassroots commitment to community building and neighborhood care; Chanel Elliott, for her trusted and tireless service to Lower East Side residents through constituent advocacy; and Destiny Mata, for her important photographic and archival work documenting the lived memory, culture, and resilience of the Lower East Side. Together, these awardees embody the spirit of Loisaida through service, creativity, advocacy, and deep commitment to community.
The day’s offerings will include live music, poetry, theater, street performance, artisan vendors, and community-based programming reflective of the Puerto Rican, Nuyorican, Caribbean, and immigrant traditions that define Loisaida. Rooted in history and alive with contemporary energy, the Festival continues to serve as a vital public platform where culture, memory, and community are not only celebrated, but actively carried forward.