Newark Hosts Eighth Annual Dominican Heritage Parade

Hundreds of Newark residents joined city and county officials at the Eighth Annual Dominican Heritage Parade and Festival of Essex County Sunday afternoon.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker led the parade, which began at 1 p.m. at the intersection of Broadway and Bloomfield Avenue and ended at Highland Avenue with a festival.

The grand marshal for this year's parade was Jose Morel, a community leader. The Padrino (Godfather) of the parade was Joe Vera, a Dominican musical artist. Serving as the National Padrino (Godfather) was Winston Reyes, a community activist and organizer. Ingrid Betancourt, coordinator of Multicultural Collections & Services for Newark Public Library served as the International Madrina (Godmother) and the International Padrino (Godfather) was Council Member-at-Large Luis Quintana, the first Latino to serve on the Newark Municipal Council.

— Mitsu Yasukawa