Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864, it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico, but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean." The theater was named La Perla in honor of the Virgin of Montserrat, known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean." It is located in barrio Tercero, in the Ponce Historic Zone.
Carmen Nydia Velázquez is a Puerto Rican comedian, actress and singer. She is best known for her fictional role in the comedic duo Susa y Epifanio which has been featured in popular radio and television programs in Puerto Rico for 30 years.
The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture is an institution of higher learning granting degrees in the field of architecture. It is located in the Ponce Historic Zone, across from Plaza Las Delicias. It was established in 2009. Together with the School of Law, it is one of two semi-autonomous professional colleges of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (PCUPR) in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 2010, the school won an award from the Southern Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce for Valor del Año en Educacion. The school is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). It has a teaching staff of 40 and a student body of 300. The current dean of the school is Luis Badillo Lozano.
The Ponce Municipal Band, also known as Centenaria Banda Municipal de Ponce, is the band of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean and the oldest music group in Puerto Rico. It has performed its open-air concerts for over 125 years. The current director is Juan García Germaín. It has 42 members between 25 and 83 years old. It operates within the jurisdiction of the Oficina de Desarrollo Cultural of the autonomous municipality of Ponce. Its headquarters are located at the Centro Integrado para el Fortalecimiento de las Artes Musicales, next to Teatro La Perla.
Teatro Fox Delicias is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1931, it originally housed a movie house until 1980, from 1991 to 1998 it house a shopping mall, and stating in 2004 it housed a boutique hotel. Its architecture is Art Deco. Originally called Teatro Delicias, it was renamed Fox Delicias many years after its inauguration based on a contract with 20th Century Fox.
Centro Cultural Carmen Solá de Pereira de Ponce is the cultural center of the city of Ponce, and is located at 70 Cristina street in the Ponce Historic Zone, in Barrio Tercero, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The Center is located in a structure designed in 1870, and it is currently used for educational and cultural activities as well as for art exhibits. Centro Cultural de Ponce was founded on 12 November 1963.
The Urban Ecological Park, also known as the Ponce Ecological Park, is a passive park in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The park was designed by Bonin Orozco Arquitectos and was inaugurated on 19 September 2012. The park is unique in that it was designed to create a "green lung" in the city by using ecological mindset in its entirety, from the construction materials used to the design and other areas as well. Except for one tree that got relocated within the project, the new park made use of all the existing trees and shrubs as they existed on the site prior to the development of the park.
Hospital Metropolitano Dr. Pila or, more commonly, Hospital Dr. Pila is a hospital in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Los Chinos de Ponce, formally King's Cream, is an Ice cream parlor located at Calle Marina 9322 in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, in front of the town square, Plaza Degetau, opposite the historic Parque de Bombas. Critics have called the site "a Puerto Rican institution" and its ice cream "the Caribbean's best." It has also been called "Puerto Rico's most famous ice cream stand." Another critic called it "[the reason] for which I'll always remember Ponce."
SITRAS, officially, Sistema Integrado de TRAnsportación del Sur, is the mass transit system in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The service was inaugurated on 14 February 2012.
Casa Rosita Serrallés is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, located between the former Escuela Libre de Música Juan Morel Campos and the Museo de la Historia de Ponce, and immediately behind Teatro La Perla, on Calle Salud street. It was built for one of the heirs of Juan Eugenio Serrallés Perez, son of businessman Juan Serrallés Colón, founder of Destilería Serrallés, and himself the CEO of the company that founded Ron Don Q. The building was purchased by the government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce in 2008 for its architectural, historic, and cultural value. As of February 2012, the building was being restored to convert it into an annex of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce to depict the 1985 Mameyes tragedy of barrio Portugues Urbano in Ponce. In 2014 it opened as "Museo de la Recordacion Barrio Mameyes" under Ponce mayor María Meléndez at Calle Salud 67. It is also known as "Sala Memorial del Barrio Mameyes" as it operates as a part of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce.
The Interamerican University of Puerto Rico at Ponce — or Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Ponce (UIPR-P) in Spanish, and often referred to as "La Inter"— is a Christian co-educational non-sectarian university in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1962. It is part of the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico system, whose main campus is in San German, Puerto Rico.
La Perla del Sur is a weekly online Spanish-language newspaper based in Ponce, Puerto Rico, catering to a regional audience. It started as a printed paper distributed in nine towns in southern Puerto Rico and had a circulation of 75,000. It also had an Internet portal where the entire printed version of the paper could be accessed. It was founded in 1983. After a three-month hiatus from June to September 2022, the paper re-opened as an online-only paper on 15 September 2022 under new ownership.
Día Mundial de Ponce is a cultural celebration held in Ponce, Puerto Rico, every year during the month of September. The celebration actually starts the Monday before Labor Day with various evening-time cultural festivities. It then culminates with the grand parade that takes place on the Sunday before Labor Day. The celebration started in 2012 and has an estimated attendance of 4,000 people. The week-long event aims to celebrate the cultural heritage of the city by giving tribute to the organizations, the people and "the great sons and daughters of the city of Ponce." The first year of this celebration, the Grand Parade took place on the last Sunday of the celebration, but starting in 2013, the week-long events ended on a Saturday and the Grand Parade was changed to take place the last Saturday. That year the celebration was also changed to occur the last weekend of September, rather than the weekend before Labor Day.
The Coro de Niños de Ponce is a children's choir in Ponce, Puerto Rico, founded in 1983. The choir is directed by founder María Inés Suárez. In 1993, the choir won first place at the International Children’s Choir Festival in Des Moines, Iowa.
Hotel Meliá is a historic colonial style family owned and operated hotel located in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Puerto Rico. Hotel Meliá, which was founded over 60 years before the much larger Meliá Hotels International chain opened its first lodging facility, bears no relation to the multi-hotel chain headquartered in Spain.
The Feria de Artesanías de Ponce, formally, Feria de Artesanías y Muestra de Arte de Ponce, is an event that takes place every year in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where artists, craftspeople and artisans showcase their products. The products showcased are traditionally hand-made and in small quantities. The fair centers around crafts that highlight the traditional cultural background of Puerto Rico, including Taino, African, and Spanish traditions. The event started in 1974 and is reported to draw "thousands of visitors". It lasts three days and is held over a weekend during the month of April.
Bienal de Arte de Ponce is a biennial international art exhibition that takes place in Ponce, Puerto Rico, during the month of November. The event is sponsored by the Commission on the Arts of the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. It has been called "the most important art biennial in Puerto Rico." As a biennial event, it takes place once every two years.
Rubén Colón Tarrats is a Puerto Rican composer, clarinet player and band director from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He also conducted the Banda Municipal de Ponce for ten years. He received his music training at Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, and Temple University College of Music, and was a music professor at Ponce High School, Instituto de Musica Juan Morel Campos, and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico.
The Carnaval de Vejigantes, officially Carnaval de Vejigantes de La Playa de Ponce, is an annual celebration held at Barrio Playa in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The celebration, which commonly lasts three to five days, generally takes place in late January or early February. It started in 1991. It takes place at Parque Lucy Grillasca on PR-585 in Barrio Playa. The parade, one of the highlights of the carnival, usually takes off from Cancha Salvador Dijols on Avenida Hostos (PR-123) and ends at Parque Lucy Grillasca (PR-585). Attendance is estimated at over 15,000 people. It is attended by people from all over Puerto Rico, and some attendees are from as far as the United States. It is organized and operated by a community, civic, NGO group, not by any government or government agency.
