Celebrating UNITY

In 1987, the Cape Verdean Independence Celebration began as a one day event that took place in the heart of Boston’s City Hall Plaza on July 4 to commemorate both Cape Verde and United States’ independence. Now it’s a two day event. On Saturday, July 4^th the celebration attracts between 15-20,000 participants from across New England in a day filled with performances by local and international artists, tasting of cultural cuisine, children activities, art display, vendors, and recognition of community leaders. On Monday, July 6^th, the Cape Verdean flag raising ceremony at Boston’s City Hall Plaza brings together community members and prominent Cape Verdean and United States government officials as invited guests.

Each year the Cape Verdean Independence Celebration Committee (CVICC) chooses a theme that reflects our history, culture and experiences as Cape Verdeans and Cape Verdean-Americans. This year, 2009, we are “Celebrating UNITY”, a theme chosen to honor those who, in unity and struggle, brought freedom to the Cape Verdean people. The theme also coincides with the celebration of CVC UNIDO 10^th Anniversary. CVC UNIDO has been uniting and strengthening the estimated 40,000 Cape Verdeans in the Greater Boston area since 1999. Additionally, in this year’s celebration we are highlighting on stage our “Cultural Fusion” program with traditional and contemporary dance performances and music by artists in the genre of kriol-jazz, hip-hop kriol, kriol-reggae as well as Cape Verde’s diverse traditional music.