TIMES STAFF REPORTS

EAST CHICAGO | The Puerto Rican Parade and Cultural Organization of Northwest Indiana is scheduled to have its annual parade and festival to honor Puerto Rican week this weekend.

The celebration will begin Saturday at Block Stadium in East Chicago with a cultural festival and end Sunday with fireworks.

The organization has provided the community with activities and events since 1996 when it took over the Puerto Rican Parade Committee of Northwest Indiana.

For $3 per person, visitors can take part in salsa and meringue performances and activities at the "kiddie corner." There also will be food and arts and crafts from vendors both local and nationwide.

"We've made an effort to make ourselves known," said organization president Maritza Lopez.

This year, vendors and musicians from Chicago, New York and Puerto Rico will appear. Also, two well-known bands, Grupo Fuego and Paquito Acosta, will perform Saturday and Sunday respectively, Lopez said.

On Sunday, the anniversary parade will begin at noon on Michigan and Euclid avenues. It will continue down Main Street and Columbus Drive and end at 144th and Parrish Drive, where the festival will be in full swing.

The festival is open from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Children 12 and under and senior citizens 65 and older enter the festival free. Entrance to the beer garden costs $1 per person. The parade will feature groups like the National Organization of Puerto Rican women, East Chicago elected officials and community businesses such as Centier and Harris banks.

The festivities will end Sunday night with a fireworks show at Block Stadium. For more information, call (219) 397-1217 or (219) 398-0632.