Peruvian Parade returns to New York City Sunday

Jackson Heights in Queens will be a sea of red and white Peruvian pride on Sunday for the return of the Peruvian Parade after a seven-year hiatus.

Organizers said after the last parade in 2016, they struggled to find enough participants — and then the pandemic hit. This year’s revival comes just in time for the country’s Independence Day celebration on July 28.

Spectators will get a taste of Peru from food vendors, musicians and folkloric performers like AFOVIC USA NJ, a Caporales dance team from Paterson, NJ.

The group of roughly 70 members was formed by Franklin Pecshel in March of 2020. It was forced to conduct its first practices virtually due to the COVID-19 lockdown. With the help of social media and several public appearances and performances, the group has grown significantly since then.

“We are excited. We have had some issues, yes. It’s been difficult,” Peschel said. “And it’s difficult for us to come to Queens. So basically, we’re going to rent a van. We’re excited, though.”

Pecshel was born in Peru and has been living in the United States for about 15 years. He noticed that people relocating to Paterson from Peru wanted to dance, so he said he decided to start his own group to give people in his community a sense of home and belonging.

Caporales, an Andean style of dance, was created in the Yungas region in Bolivia more than fifty years ago by the Estrada Pacheco brothers. They were inspired by the energetic jumping and movements of the “caporal” character — depicted in Afro-Bolivian music and dance folklore as a mixed-race Spanish military guard or slave overseer

AFOVIC, an acronym derived from Asociación Folklórica Virgen de la Candelaria, has teams in various South American countries but only two in the United States.

AFOVIC USA NJ meets once a week to practice choreography. Most of the members live in Paterson, but some travel from as far as Connecticut to participate.

Karen Monge, the group’s treasurer, lives in Queens but still treks to practice every week.

“I really wanted to find that type of community, that Peruvian community, and I was able to find that with [AFOVIC USA NJ],” Monge says. “So that really motivated me to do the two and a half hour commutes from Queens to Paterson, and sometimes coming back home at 1 a.m … and also seeing how much I was growing as a dancer with AFOVIC really motivated me to keep on going and still be with the group.”

Ingrith Bolanos Canquis handles AFOVIC USA NJ’s logistics. She joined the group three years ago after moving to New Jersey and says being a member reminds her of dancing the Caporales in her hometown in Peru.

“At the beginning, it was people just joining because they like to dance .. but now you start developing new friendships, and those friends become your family,” she said. “It’s not only one day a week that we spend with each other. We also do activities on the side, we go play bowling, we do activities on the weekends.”

The Peruvian Parade will start at noon on 37th Ave, and travel from 69th street to 87th street.

For more information about AFOVIC USA NJ, email afovicusanj@gmail.com