DENVER, COLORADO & SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – September 20, 2018 – (HISPANICIZE WIRE) – The Americas Latino Eco Festival (ALEF) of Denverand the Festival de la Palabra of San Juan joined forces for Puerto Rico co-hosting the 9th edition of Festival de la Palabra. The unprecedented joint festival will be celebrated October 9th to the 14th at the Luis Muñoz Rivera Park and the National Archive Building of San Juan. Admission is free. Sponsorships are still open.
El Festival de la Palabra is the flagship literary event in Puerto Rico and ALEFis the United States premier meetup of Latino American environmental minds and a home for leaders from across the Americas committed to advancing a healthy environment. This year, they dedicate El Festival de la Palabra to the Puerto Rican diaspora.
The festival’s call to action is “to return, to our memories, our land, our word, our hugs”. The program includes cultural and ecological activities such as: the restoration of the park’s flora and fauna themed mosaics, the creation of the “12 Procéres” and “El Regreso” murals, a summit of ideas to explore an economy of outdoors recreation anchored in conservation and public health, “Promotores Verdes: The New Economy of El Departamento Ciudadano de Recursos Naturales”, agro ecological activities, movies, poetry, and the never missed – literary panels with national and internationally acclaimed authors. A highlight of the program includes the concerts of Grammy award winning flautist Nestor Torres.
According to festival organizers, Irene Vilar, Director of AFC+A and Mayra Santos-Febres, Director of the Salón Literario Libroamerica Puerto Rico (SLLPR), the festival’s theme is ‘to return, celebrate our beauty, our community, neighbors and put words to the vision of the country we want to become.”
ALEF and the Festival de la Palabra invite us to celebrate this new powerful paradigm of returning to hope and happiness. Join us in celebrating this duo of festivals in the 9th edition of Festival de la Palabra with AFC+A and the 6th International Ecological Festival of the Americas.
“Our venture happens in a historic momento where we are betting on our beauty, our culture, our memory, our resilience. We are more than an island and its diaspora. The ones here and the ones there don’t exist. We saw it clearly when the governments failed, communications weren’t running and our world came down. The children of our “campos” that had established in “el norte” came back to look for their sick and lift us up. When all our institutions collapsed, the world rose from everywhere to Puerto Rico. It is time that we honor this commitment we have as neighbors of each other. From this powerfulplace we invite you”, narrated Mayra Santos – Febres, writer and founder of the Festival de la Palabra.
“At this year’s festival and on the anniversary of Maria, two Puerto Ricans, a cultural activist and an environmentalist, one from the island and one returning, are calling on their brothers and sisters to elevate their voices for the future of our children which rests upon the health of our mother earth and our capabilities to be a resilient and sovereign island. For me, it is a great honor to join our platforms, demonstrating not only that we are one, but what we can achieve together” Irene Vilar, Director, Americas for Conservation + the Arts.
Festival Eco Highlights:
— Guagua Solidaria and solidarity brigades with restoration projects
— Animated eco shorts
— Agro-ecology workshops and urban food garden
— Citizen Science brigades
— Reforestation brigades
— Agro-Jibaro 101 Workshop with Tato Torres
— “12 Proceres” & “El Regreso” murals
WHO: The festival estimates the support and participation of 7,000 students, 16,000 participants, 234 schools, 60 authors, 20 panelists, 10 musicians, 12 visual artists, a movie forum of culture and ecology, community leaders of 25 municipalities, 6 mayors, an international production team and a media hits of 30,000,000 in publicity every year in international outlets.
WHEN: October 9-14, 2018
WHERE: Luis Muñoz Rivera Park and the National Archive Building in San Juan
FOR SPONSORSHIPS: Please e-mail Karla M Andreu, MPA, Development AFC+A karla@americasforconservation.org
About AFC+A
Americas for Conservation + the Arts (AFC+A) is an environmental non-profit organization advancing cultural and ecological resilience, leveraging the arts for conservation gains. Boricua founded and latino team led, AFC+A has global initiatives in the US, Puerto Rico, and Mexico
www.americasforconservation.org
www.americaslatinoecofestival.org
About SLLPR
SLLPR is a non-profit organization created in 1996 dedicated to promote Reading and creative writing, expose Puerto Rican literature internationally, support the development of Puerto Rican writers, honor literary excellence ad connect Puerto Rican writers globally.