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HAVERSTRAW — Ines Attenborough, 48, stood on the sidewalk waving a Dominican flag Sunday afternoon as a traffic jam of people and cars passed by on Main Street and reggaeton blasted overhead. She stood next to nine of her cheering grandchildren, most of whom were dressed head-to-toe in Dominican Republic regalia.
Attenborough was one of several thousand people who turned out for the 17th annual Dominican Day parade and festival in Haverstraw.
"This is the time for us to get together," said Attenborough, a Dominican native who has lived in Rockland for 23 years and makes a point of attending the parade each year to maintain her ties to her Caribbean home. "Every year we do this to celebrate and remember."
The parade started around noon at the foot of Main Street and ended with a large crowd gathering outside Haverstraw Middle School around 2 p.m. before a midafternoon downpour sent crowds scattering.
Musicians performed onstage next to local officials, dignitaries and the parade queen while vendors served up plates of fried plantains and all kinds of merchandise in red, white and blue — colors of the Dominican flag.
The annual event commemorates the independence of the Dominican Republic. The country celebrates Independence Day on Feb. 27.
Haverstraw is home to a tightly knit community of Dominicans that is estimated to be in the thousands. Julia Ureña, president of the Dominican Parade of Rockland, said the celebration had grown to include Latinos and non-Latinos alike since it was started 20 years ago.
Rafael Duram, 38, had driven up that morning from New York City dressed in a lime-green costume and multi-horned mask typical of a carnival celebration in the Dominican Republic. Duram said his brightly colored attire, which came with sewed-on sequins, mirrors and whistles, is one that dates to the country's earliest days.
"The conquistadors would wear these kinds of costumes, basically, as a ploy," he said. "Dominicans would trade them gold for trinkets."
Rosa Delgado, 41, and her son, Victor, 15, stood in front of the stage taking in the sights and sounds.
"For me this about family and sharing our culture with the Latino community," Rosa Delgado said.
A student at North Rockland High School, Victor Delgado said he was speaking only in Spanish for the duration of the parade as a gesture to his family's roots.
"Soy Dominicano," he said, repeating himself. "Soy Dominicano."
HAVERSTRAW PARADE PICTURES BELOW.
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