Dominicans celebrate heritage at Lynn festival

LYNN – The Dominican community is a growing political, economic and cultural force in Lynn, said Dominicans and their supporters during a weekend heritage festival held in the city.”So many Dominicans participate in all activities across the city,” said Candido Guerrero, a business owner in Lynn, as he tied red and blue balloons – the national colors of the Caribbean island – on a truck ahead of Saturday’s parade. “It’s an involved community, and we like to see things progress.”View a photo gallery!Around him, the ground shook with speakers thumping musica tipica, a style of music from the northern part of the island with roots in merengue, and local Dominican youth dance groups warmed up for a parade that would take them from downtown to Fraser Field, where participants watched an exhibition North Shore Navigators game against Los Tigres Dominicanos.On Sunday, the party continued at Fraser Field with a concert of local and Dominican artists.After a wave of immigrants came to Lynn from the Dominican Republic in the 1990s, Dominicans now make up one of Lynn’s largest minority groups in a city that has no majority ethnicity. They also own more businesses than any other Latino group, according to Frances Martinez, the executive director of the North Shore Latino Business Association.And they are heavily involved in politics, said Jose Manuel-Encarnacion. Even though School Committee Member Maria Carrasco is the only current elected public official in Lynn with Dominican roots, Manuel-Encarnacion said Dominicans mobilize quickly to support a candidate they like. He noted many are volunteering on opposing mayoral campaigns of incumbent mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and City Council President Timothy Phelan.A handful of local politicians also stopped by the festival Saturday, including State Sens. Robert Fennell and Thomas McGee.”It’s exciting to see the Dominican community becoming more involved in the political process and in business, creating jobs,” McGee said over the thumping music. “The strength of Lynn has been in part our diversity.”And the strength of the Dominican community is its ability to celebrate its heritage while embracing others, said volunteer Gabriela Gonzalez, who moved from the island to Lynn two years ago.”Most of us keep ourselves in the middle, so we can live in both cultures,” she said, explaining how she and her friends straddle the culture of their new country with that of their own.The entire festival was hosted by organizers in the North Shore Latino Business Association, who revived similar festivals in years past and hope to make this an annual event in Lynn.Amber Phillips can be reached at [email protected].