Yauco National Coffee Festival 2023: The 48th Edition

Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2023 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Yauco National Coffee Festival. For the current edition, see our 2026 post.

The 48th Festival Nacional del Café Freddie León Maldonado ran Sunday, February 26 through Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Yauco. The edition was framed as the grand commemoration of 267 years since the founding of Yauco by Don Fernando Pacheco y Matos, and much of the week’s programming was built around that anniversary. The official poster, by Ariana S. Torres, carried the theme “Enlazando la historia con nuestras tradiciones y cultura.”

The 2023 festival at a glance

• What: XLVIII Festival Nacional del Café Freddie León Maldonado
• When: February 26 to March 5, 2023
• Anniversary: 267 years of Yauco’s founding
• Where: Parque Arturo Lluberas, with events at Coliseo Raúl “Pipote” Oliveras and Yaucoop
• Admission: Free
• Board president: Profa. Aurora Gómez Vélez
• Mayor: Hon. Ángel Luis “Luigi” Torres Ortiz
• Poster art: “Enlazando la historia con nuestras tradiciones y cultura,” by Ariana S. Torres

The 2023 program

Tuesday, February 28 (Yauco’s founding anniversary)

• 10:00 AM · Programa radial on the history of Yauco
• Inauguración Parque La Fundación, Ermita de Barinas, with parish mass, Payaso Remi, Mago Alex Carson, a bomba y plena workshop, a history of Yauco with Prof. Giovanetti, niños trovadores, a tribute to Prof. José A. Semidei, Ballet Agüeybaná y Salsa Sur, Hermes Croatto, and Bonny Cepeda

Wednesday, March 1

• 7:30 PM · Develación del Afiche Oficial, Salón de Actos de Yaucoop

Thursday, March 2

• Noche de la Danza, Coliseo Raúl “Pipote” Oliveras, with Alpha Beta Chi
  • 6:00 PM · Inscripciones
  • 7:00 PM · Participación de los competidores

Friday, March 3 (Parque Arturo Lluberas)

• 8:00 AM · Recibimiento de los artesanos
• 10:00 AM · Día del Niño, with student performances and awards for the literature, drawing, and painting competitions
• 1:00 PM · Conjunto Saborínken
• 2:00 PM · Conjunto Águilas Yaucanas
• 3:30 PM · Grupo Maestro
• 5:00 PM · Rey Delgado
• 7:00 PM · Super Trío
• 9:00 PM · Orquesta Son de Salsa
• 10:30 PM · Plena Libre

Saturday, March 4 (Parque Arturo Lluberas)

• 9:00 AM · Feria de Artesanía continues
• 1:00 PM · Danza creativa con su baile de salsa
• 1:30 PM · Harry Hernández y sus Pleneros
• 2:00 PM · Milton y su grupo típico yaucano
• 6:00 PM · Ballet Guaitiao
• 7:00 PM · Noche de Homenajes con Trío Fraticelli, with the Investidura de la Gran Comendadora, Sra. Gessellie M. Caraballo Ruiz, and the Homenaje de la Orden del Cafetal to Profa. Raquel Vélez Pellicia
• 9:00 PM · Senderos de Cultura
• 10:30 PM · Caobaná
• 11:30 PM · Pirulo y la Tribu

Sunday, March 5 (Parque Arturo Lluberas)

• 10:00 AM · Misa Jíbara, Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario, and Botas de Gallo
• 1:00 PM · Gran Desfile de Carrozas, departing from Coliseo Raúl “Pipote” Oliveras
• 3:00 PM · Concurso de Trovadores José A. Ortiz “El Jíbaro de Yauco”

What the 2023 edition tells you about the festival

The festival and the town share a birthday. 2023 was pitched as the commemoration of 267 years since Yauco’s founding, and the week included the inauguration of a new park, Parque La Fundación. The coffee festival is how Yauco marks its own founding, which is why the anniversary number climbs on every poster.

The venue moves. 2023 ran largely out of Parque Arturo Lluberas rather than the plaza. If you are planning around a specific year, check the venue rather than assuming.

The honors are the spine of the weekend. The Gran Comendadora investiture and the Orden del Cafetal tribute anchor Saturday night, every year, whoever is playing after.

Watch the festival

Planning a visit

The festival returns every year in late February and early March. Our 2026 post covers the current edition, and the complete guide has the full history. See also our recaps of 2024 and 2025.

Coming to Yauco? Start with our guide to Yauco and our walking guide to the historic houses of Yauco.

Follow along

• Facebook: Festival Nacional del Café de Yauco
• Official site: yaucofestivaldelcafe.org

Were you at the 48th? Tell us in the comments what you remember. We read every one.

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This post covers the 2023 edition, which has concluded. Details reflect the program as published by the organizers at the time. For the full story of the festival, see our complete guide to the Yauco National Coffee Festival.