By Juliana Morello, Pittsburgh Latino Magazine

On Saturday, June 8, the City of Pittsburgh celebrated their second annual International Day Parade and Festival.

The event, which aims to celebrate “the rich heritage of the different nationalities who call Pittsburgh home, whether new to the area or living here for generations,” was in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s World Square Festival.

The parade, which began at noon, left from Centre Ave at Crawford Street in the Hill District. It continued down Centre Avenue and Fifth Avenue toward Market Square, where it culminated in the World Square Festival.

According to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership website, the World Square Festival is a “platform to celebrate, promote, and welcome our local international communities.” It was open from noon to 9 pm for two weekends in June, and featured live entertainment from a variety of performers.

Over 40 nationalities were represented, and over 800 attendees joined the parade. There were also over 20 vendors selling food and merchandise.

Within the many nationalities celebrating and sharing their cultures, various attendees showed up and represented the Pittsburgh Latino community.

“To me, this parade is an excellent initiative by the City of Pittsburgh,” said Adriana Sanchez, a native of Costa Rica. “I hope it becomes a tradition to highlight the beauty of the diversity of all the communities that now call Pittsburgh home.”

Dr. Diego Chaves-Gnecco, a native of Colombia and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, mentioned his pride in being able to represent Latino culture in Pittsburgh, his second home. 

“We feel immensely proud to represent our Latino culture, our country Columbia, in our second home, Pittsburgh. We […thank…] Pittsburgh and the United States for welcoming us and hosting us in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Chaves-Gnecco. “The United States is the only country in the world where you can interact with so many cultures, with so many citizens of the world. Diversity makes our country the best in the world.”

Juliana Morello is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns. Juliana is interning with Pittsburgh Latino Magazine.