Get a taste of Puerto Rico this Saturday as Darts Productions puts on Memphis’ first-ever Puerto Rican Night, complete with music, dance, and authentic cuisine.
“We’re trying to bring awareness of all the communities in the area,” says Nilka Quiros with the event production company Darts Productions. “This is the second type of festival that we’ve done. The first one was a Colombian Night [in October 2024]. … The response was phenomenal in the Memphis area. We really weren’t exactly sure what to expect, but the community responded very well. It was just a great opportunity for everybody to get together and just have fun and educate.”
Quiros hopes Puerto Rican Night will bring the same response. Darts Productions also plans to put on more festivals like these in honor of other Spanish-speaking countries.
For Puerto Rican Night, Sari, a Memphis-based singer from Puerto Rico, will perform, as will the Richmond, Virginia-based Tradición Cultural Dance Company, who will present a traditional Puerto Rican dance. The theater collective Agua, Sol y Sereno is also traveling from Puerto Rico to bring an “unforgettable performance,” including a mask parade. Earlier this week, they hosted community workshops making vejigante masks, used during the island’s local festivities.
Plus, there will be food from Puerto Rican vendors and merchandise available for purchase. “For us Puerto Ricans, because I’m Puerto Rican, we don’t have really a whole lot of Puerto Rican restaurants here [in Memphis],” Quiros says, “and we don’t have a lot of Puerto Rican performances here, so to get somebody from Puerto Rico and food and things like that, that’s pretty cool.”
Puerto Rican Night is free to attend. “Anybody that wants to come can come,” Quiros says. “It’s just been a night to have fun.”
Puerto Rican Night, Overton Square Trimble Courtyard, 2092 Trimble Place, Saturday, March 22nd, 6-9 p.m., free.