Why Should Delaware Care?
Wilmington’s Fourth Street is home to a Black and Brown community whose history includes civil rights demonstrations and celebrations touting the area’s large Hispanic community. The Calle 4 Fest is one such celebration, but this year marks its last in Wilmington, as organizers head to Dover to account for a larger gathering next year.
Wilmington’s Calle 4, or Fourth Street, transformed on Sunday from the usual commuting route into a gathering space honoring Delaware’s Hispanic heritage.
From the Puerto Rican families who sat on their front porches with flags sprawled out, to the Caribbean Culture Awareness organization that incorporated Spanish sounds in their dance performance, the festival attracted attendees from several nationalities to gather together.
The Hilltop neighborhood, where this festival was held, has played a key role in the history of Delaware’s Black and Brown communities.
Advocates in the neighborhood organized a civil rights demonstration in the late 1960s, protesting against a forced system that bussed Wilmington’s Black and Brown students outside the city’s schools, while white suburban students were bussed in. In 1978, the activism turned into a celebration of heritage with the 1978 Puerto Rican Day parade organized by St. Paul San Pablo Church on Fourth Street.
Today, the parade is organized by Nuestras Raices, a Delaware nonprofit that focuses on the artistic and heritage preservation of Hispanic culture.
While this year marked a milestone of 50 years celebrating in the Hilltop neighborhood, the organization announced it will relocate to Dover next year. India Colon, the organization’s vice-president, cited a growing community — one that includes the Caribbean community featured that day — as the reason for the move.
While Sunday’s heat and humidity lingered in the air, the weather did not stop dance performers from wearing traditional long dresses interwoven with ribbons and embroidered flowers — traditional Latin American motifs — or families from enjoying a good taco or pincho as they watched float after float glide along the festival’s parade route.
Spotlight Delaware captured some of these moments during the parade on Sep. 13.
The Latin American Community Center, headquartered in Wilmington’s Hilltop neighborhood, is a resource center that aids the neighborhood’s Hispanic community. The organization paraded down the street where most of their beneficiaries live during the Calle 4 Fest. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY ELSA KEGELMAN 
The Calle 4 Festival parade encourages various community members to show off the pride they carry from being Hispanic. A young child waves his Puerto Rican flag at parade attendees. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY CRISTAL SANCHEZ 
Traditional Mexican dancers braved the heat on Sunday afternoon as they smiled and danced down Fourth Street during Wilmington’s Calle 4 Fest. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY ELSA KEGELMAN 
The Thunderguards are a motorcycle club in Wilmington founded in 1965. They attended the Calle 4 festival and sold traditional Puerto Rican dishes that day. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY CRISTAL SANCHEZ 
Traditional, Mexican dresses embroidered with large flowers and wrapped with ribbons at the waist are usually worn this time of the year as Mexico’s Independence Day comes up on Sep. 16. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY CRISTAL SANCHEZ 
The ASPIRA Wolves are a cheerleading squad representing ASPIRA Delaware, a dual language charter school for English and Spanish-speaking students. The girls cheered and performed at this year’s Calle 4 Festival. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY ELSA KEGELMAN 
The Hilltop neighborhood in Wilmington was home to the booming speaker that played Latin music all throughout the Calle 4 Fest. Both children and adults danced to the rhythms of each song. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY ELSA KEGELMAN 
Pinchos are traditional Puerto Rican chicken skewers. The dish was being grilled outside by a couple of local business vendors during the Calle 4 festival. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY CRISTAL SANCHEZ 
Traditional performers with Carnaval de Huejotzingo en Delaware paraded down the street during the Calle 4 Fest, wearing elaborate headpieces showing off the rich history of Puebla, Mexico. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY ELSA KEGELMAN 
The Roberto Clemente Baseball League participated in the Calle 4 Fest this Sunday. The Wilmington youth sports group honors the late Puerto Rican baseball player. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY CRISTAL SANCHEZ 
El Salvador was among the list of countries being represented at the Calle 4 Fest. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY ELSA KEGELMAN 
The Lambda Sigma Upsilon fraternity from the University of Delaware performed their stroll on the festival street. Their symbol is a Taino native – derivative from indigenous Puerto Rican culture. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY CRISTAL SANCHEZ
Elsa Kegelman contributed to this report.
