The 39th Annual Loisaida Festival IS ON Sunday before Memorial Day!
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 Nuyorican and immigrant histories, and one that continues to confront the pressures of displacement and cultural erasure, the Loisaida 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 its footprint.
Loisaida, Inc. continues to celebrate our Puerto Rican roots, Lower East Side immigrant contributions, Latiné and Caribbean heritage, through food, music, theater, art, and culture. The 39th annual commemorative poster art is by artist and designer, Maite Nazario @MAITEXNAZARIO. Nazario is currently a resident artist at the Loisaida Artist in Residence (L.A.I.R.) program.
Join us in this one-of-a-kind community celebration in the Lower East Side’s Loisaida neighborhood.
Sponsorship Opportunities • Vendor Registration Form
Volunteer Registration Form • Parade Registration Form
Since 1987, the Loisaida Festival has commemorated the community victory that led to the honorary naming of Avenue C as Loisaida Avenue.
The 38th edition, held this year in memory of photographer Marlis Momber—whose 1982 documentary Viva Loisaida! immortalized the neighborhood’s resilience and cultural spirit—drew thousands in joyful celebration. The Festival once again presented its Viva Loisaida! Awards, honoring outstanding community leaders and cultural contributors.
A vibrant afternoon of live performances lit up the Main Stage, featuring sounds from Sonido Costeño, Joe Bataan, Anissa Gathers, Ana Macho, Alma Moyo, and Legacy Women. This year the Loisaida Festival’s Main Stage program was hosted by Giraldo “Jerry” Alvare and DJ Premier.
Festival attendees visited the TheaterLab at La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez on E. 9th Street and Avenue C. Just across the street, the Francisco “Pancho” Ramos Community Garden came alive with música típica puertorriqueña performed by the beloved old-timers conjunto Los Fascinantes and the Brooklyn-based band Yotoco, drawing crowds into an atmosphere of heritage and joy.
A lively street-level collaboration between the Nuyorican Poets Café and BombaYo added powerful spoken word and traditional Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms to the mix, enriching the day’s celebration with rhythm, poetry, and pride
Loisaida, Inc. is a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary arts and culture community development organization founded in 1978.
The Loisaida Center provides space, mentorship, resources, and opportunities to emerging community leaders, artists, and creators working in diverse disciplines. We promote a vibrant social and community life and serve as community development incubator for self-sustainable projects and entrepreneurial initiatives at the intersections of culture, art, media and technology.
