Festival de Claridad (San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 2008) There is no denying that there remains a lack of dialogue between the primarily Hispanophone, Francophone and Anglophone islands of the Caribbean, undoubtedly a vestige of our colonial past and belonging to different European masters.   The same holds true for Puerto Rico which, despite being a Caribbean neighbour, is often regarded as a separate entity. Officially, the island is politically defined as an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States with commonwealth status. Few have been able to break that down into layman’s terms, but it is tantamount to defining Puerto Rico as a modern-day colony of the United States.   Puerto Ricans are United States citizens and afforded the rights of such, however they cannot vote in the United States presidential elections if they are residents of the Island. The dream for independence has been alive since the late 19th Century, when the island still belonged to Spain. The Spanish-American war of 1898 chartered a new course for Puerto Rico, as it changed hands to the United States. Currently, the majority of Puerto Ricans are either in favour of maintaining the status quo (commonwealth status) or becoming the 51st state of the United States, while a small percentage is in favor of becoming an independent country.   It is this group of pro-independence supporters that publish the weekly Claridad, and hold the annual fund-raiser, Festival de Claridad. The annual calendar in Puerto Rico is chock-full of different festivals, ranging from the Festival de China (Orange Festival), the Festival del Tinglar (Leatherback Turtle Festival), to several Fiestas Patronales (Patron Saint Feasts)throughout the different municipalities of the island.   The standard formula often includes live music, local food, and an artisan fair usually set in an open-air plaza. However, the Festival de Claridad stands apart, not so much in terms of structure but rather in terms of its content and diverse events schedule.   As it has been for at least the past few years, the Festival is held over four successive evenings at an enormous parking lot adjacent to the Hiram Bithorn Stadium (opposite Plaza Las Americas, the biggest shopping mall in the Caribbean).   The entertainment plays a prominent role, but not to the detriment of the local vendors, who travel from all over the island and set up booths with all manner of Puerto Rican arts and crafts.  The crafts range from used books, graphic novels outlining the story of the progenitors/pioneers in the movement towards indendendence from over a century ago, to politically charged t-shirts and paraphernalia.   Despite the varied content, the common theme of all the artwork and craft is immense Boricua pride, redefinition of the national identity, and pro-independence rhetoric. At this year’s festival, the crowd was a mixture of young adults sporting Che Guevara t-shirts as well as many older adults with their family, and portable chairs, in tow.   There were scores of people in attendance, despite the occasional April shower that would dampen all but the spirits of the attendees. The music was as varied as those in attendance, with emphasis more on traditional forms, folk/nueva trovasingers (Roy Brown), underground hip hop artists (DJ Velcro and Siete Nueve) and two prominent urban Puerto Rican performers, Calle 13 and Tego Calderon.   Given the cause and the mission of the Festival, it is pro bono work for the artists but this did not hinder them from delivering energetic performances that stirred the masses into a frenzy.   ·         Calle 13 delivered a solid performance on the first night of the festival, with perhaps the biggest forward earned for one of their earliest hits ‘Se vale to-to’. Much to the delight of the revelers, lead vocalist ‘Residente’ invited his girlfriend Denise Quiñones (a former Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Universe) on stage for a couple of his more ‘romantic’ tunes such as ‘un beso de desayuno’. ·         Roy Brown later took the stage and, despite the mass exodus after Calle 13’s show, led his many loyal fans in a performance of his traditional hits. ·         On the 3rd night of the festival, Son del Batey, a traditional bomba group, drew attendees out from their temporary shelters from the rain while even inspiring a few young ladies in front the stage to dance, challenging the drummer to follow their command (see video). o   Bomba is an indigenous Puerto Rican artform (which provided some of the foundation for salsa), primarily percussive with drummers and maracas providing the musical backbone while the mostly male performers sing folk songs. o   The female dancers wear long flowing skirts and, utilizing the swaying of the skirts as well as corresponding dance movements, actually lead the drummer in his playing. ·         Tego Calderon took the stage afterwards, capitalizing on the hype and actually including some bomba performances in his repertoire – he then had the fans singing word by word as he delivered such hits as ‘Mi Caballito’ and ‘No quiere novio’.   Undoubtedly, the festival served to raise awareness for the cause of Claridad and remind Boricuas that the dream of an independent Puerto Rico continues to be alive and well.     For more info: http://www.claridadpuertorico.com/