Loisaida Festival to fill Avenue C with music, food, arts and culture

Thirty-seven is gonna be heaven.

The Loisaida Festival returns for its 37th year on Sun., May 26. The annual “cultural mosaic,” featuring music, food, arts and culture, encapsulates the diverse heritage and vibrant spirit of the Lower East Side.

Things will kick off at 11:45 a.m. with a community parade, featuring the drums of Batalá NY — Batacuda, on Avenue C from Fifth Street to 12th Street, with a performance in front of the main stage at 12th Street.

Pinc Louds, the East Village’s favorite tropical-punk/garage-doowop band, perform at noon, followed by a bevy of musical acts throughout the afternoon, including NYC Womxn Bomba Collective, Los Fascinantes traditional Puerto Rican music, Taína Asili, Kinto Zonó and Enyel C, among others. This year’s co-emcees are Caridad “La Bruja” De la Luz of Nuyorican Poets Cafe and David “Daso” Soto. Deejay Lou will be spinning the tunes.

This year’s 2024 Viva Loisaida! Award recipients are Congressmember Dan Goldman; Felipe Luciano, activist, author and former Young Lord; Ruth Sánchez, entrepreneur and sister of beloved Nuyorican poet Jesús “Tato” Laviera; Manny Rodriguez, a longtime youth sports organizer and founder of the Lower East Side’s Félix Millán Little League; and Kanielle Hernández, activist, leader and lifelong resident of the NYCHA Mariana Bracetti Houses in the East Village.

There will also be more than 50 artists, creatives and makers and merchants and more than 10 food vendors and merchants.

And don’t forget to check out the “Salsa con Estilo” exhibit at La Sala de Pepe, at 73 Avenue C, at Fifth Street!

For a full schedule of events, visit loisaidafest.nyc.