On closer look it isn’t a wedding party in the DUMBO district at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is a “Quinceañera” or “Fiesta de Quince.”
The girl in her new green gown had reached her fifteenth birthday and was being debuted as an adult — this would be her day. In times past she would have been considered eligible for marriage but things dealing with family, careers and divorce are very different now.
The Quinceañera is a tradition throughout much of the Spanish-speaking Americas — but not in the Old World. There is a formal entrance, toasts, dancing (especially with the Quinceañera’s father), a feast, a 15-candle ceremony followed by cake cutting and then the pulling of ribbons, one of which has a ring tied to it.
Fifteen people who have been important in the girl’s life are formally recognized.
It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Quinceañera party had just come out of the hall. Even from a quarter block away, you could see that the girl is radiant.
