Salsa on the Thames Brings Colombian and Puerto Rican Music to a New London Harbor Cruise
Salsa on the Thames turns a Thames River Heritage Park boat into a floating Latin music venue Sunday, September 20, with musicians Alessandra Gonzalez and Daniel Villegas performing aboard two one-hour cruises in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The cruises depart from City Pier in New London at 1 and 3 p.m., carrying passengers onto the Thames River for an unusual combination of live music, cultural celebration and sightseeing.
Tickets are $40 for adults and $5 for children.
And the two performers aren’t simply musicians hired to play a collection of Latin standards. Gonzalez and Villegas are childhood friends whose Puerto Rican and Colombian backgrounds, longtime musical collaboration, and shared connection to New York’s Latino community are central to the event.
Two Childhood Friends Reunited Through Music
Thames River Heritage Park describes Alessandra Gonzalez and Daniel Villegas as childhood friends whose Indigenous heritage and “Nuyorican way of thinking” connect Colombia and Puerto Rico.
Their musical relationship has continued well into adulthood.
Gonzalez has appeared on several Villegas recordings, and the two have performed together at Latin and Hispanic heritage events in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Their collaborations include Orgullo y Dolor, Mi Otra Mitad and Yo Nací Pa’ Esto.
More recently, they joined forces with Mexican rapper and poet Bocafloja on Villegas’ 2026 recording Destination Protocol.
For Salsa on the Thames, however, the emphasis isn’t on putting a recording on the boat’s speakers.
It’s live music.
Alessandra Gonzalez Found Her Way Back to the Stage
Gonzalez’s story includes a lengthy interruption.
Born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, she began performing as a child and participated in television programs, competitions and theater productions on the island.
She later studied music education at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras.
Then life moved in another direction.
After becoming a mother and settling in New York, Gonzalez stepped away from performing for more than a decade.
Her son eventually asked her why she didn’t start singing again.
That question changed things.
Gonzalez returned to music in 2017, initially singing with La Super Latina radio in Poughkeepsie before gradually moving back into public performances.
Small community appearances led to festivals, cultural celebrations, university performances and increasingly ambitious live shows.
Today she describes herself as a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and Latin fusion artist, blending Caribbean musical traditions with contemporary influences.
Her recent performances have included Hispanic Heritage celebrations across several states, SUNY Orange, Warwick’s Juneteenth Concert Series, Applefest, Poughkeepsie PorchFest and other Hudson Valley events.
Her Music Is Rooted in Puerto Rico
Gonzalez’s recorded work makes that connection particularly clear.
Her debut single, Como Te Olvido, arrived in 2023.
In 2025 she released Noche en la Parguera, a song rooted in Puerto Rican imagery and named for the coastal community of La Parguera in Lajas.
Her influences include some formidable names in Latin music.
Gonzalez has cited Celia Cruz and Olga Tañón among the artists who helped shape her musical identity, alongside contemporary Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny.
Cruz, in particular, provides an obvious connection to Sunday’s event.
You can’t tell the story of salsa without her.
Salsa Was Born From Cultural Collision
Salsa isn’t a single traditional folk style that appeared fully formed in one place.
It grew from an extraordinary mixture of musical cultures.
Cuban son, mambo and other Afro-Cuban forms played central roles. Puerto Rican musicians brought their own rhythms and traditions. Jazz added another influence.
Then those sounds collided in New York City, particularly within Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Latino communities during the mid-20th century.
By the 1960s and ’70s, the word “salsa” had become associated with the explosive New York sound being developed by musicians including Tito Puente, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Ray Barretto and others.
The Fania label helped carry it around the world.
Celia Cruz became its Queen.
So when Thames River Heritage Park describes Gonzalez and Villegas through their Latin American roots and Nuyorican perspective, that’s not incidental to a salsa cruise.
New York’s Latino experience is embedded in the music’s history.
Daniel Villegas Brings Colombia, Poetry and Percussion Into the Mix
Villegas comes to the cruise from a somewhat different musical direction.
He is a Latino poet, writer, instructor, recording artist and conga player, with work that crosses poetry, hip-hop, percussion and Latin music.
His catalog includes the albums Poetry Meets Slam, Emcee Scrolls and 2024’s Evolution Gold.
In 2026 he released Beats and Lyrics, Vol. 1: Music Makes the World Go Round, a 14-track project incorporating hip-hop, spoken-word and collaborative work.
Villegas’ music frequently crosses cultural and stylistic borders rather than remaining inside a single genre.
That makes percussion especially important.
The conga itself carries a history stretching from African musical traditions through Cuba and into the broader vocabulary of salsa and Latin popular music.
On a boat where there isn’t much distance between musician and listener, percussion should be particularly immediate.
You’re not watching from the back row.
You’re on the same deck.
Gonzalez and Villegas Already Know How to Build a Latin Celebration
The two have also shared stages specifically designed around Latino culture.
In May 2026, Gonzalez and Villegas appeared together at La Casita: A Celebration of Latin Heritage in Newburgh, New York, alongside Cuboriqua and Drés Tiago.
Earlier performances have placed them at Hispanic heritage festivals and community cultural celebrations throughout the Hudson Valley.
That experience matters here because Salsa on the Thames isn’t being presented simply as a concert with a Spanish-language playlist.
It’s part of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs nationally from September 15 through October 15.
The cruise is meant to celebrate culture as much as music.
Why Hispanic Heritage Month Starts in the Middle of September
The unusual September 15 start date is deliberate.
Several Latin American nations celebrate independence anniversaries during the same period.
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua commemorate independence on September 15.
Mexico follows on September 16.
Chile follows on September 18.
The United States first established Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968. It was expanded into a monthlong observance in 1988.
That makes September 20 an especially appropriate date to put Colombian and Puerto Rican musical traditions on the river.
The Thames Becomes the Venue
The other half of this event is the setting.
Thames River Heritage Park isn’t a conventional park contained behind a gate. It connects historic and cultural sites along the New London and Groton sides of the Thames River, using the water itself as the thread between them.
Its boats are part of that history.
The Park operates refurbished former U.S. Navy utility boats, once used to transport sailors between ships and shore.
Today they carry passengers past a waterfront dominated by centuries of maritime history.
Depending on the route and conditions, a Thames River cruise can offer views of New London’s waterfront, Fort Trumbull, Groton’s shoreline and the working river.
On September 20, however, the soundtrack changes.
This Isn’t a Dance Floor, and That’s Part of the Fun
The name Salsa on the Thames might conjure up an enormous dance floor floating down the river.
That’s not quite what this is.
These are historic utility boats, not ballroom cruise ships.
The experience is a one-hour intimate music cruise, with Gonzalez and Villegas performing close to the passengers.
Toe tapping is specifically encouraged.
Anything more ambitious may depend on available deck space and the captain’s opinion of your footwork.
The intimacy is actually one of the attraction’s strengths.
A large concert can put hundreds of feet between an audience and a performer.
Here, everyone is sharing one relatively small boat.
Know the Boat Before You Book
There are some practical considerations that matter, particularly for visitors with mobility limitations.
Thames River Heritage Park states that its boats are not ADA compliant.
Passengers must be able to negotiate four steps and board and disembark independently, although crew members can provide limited courtesy assistance.
There is also no restroom aboard the boat.
Guests may bring snacks and beverages, but glass containers aren’t permitted.
Those details matter more on a specialty cruise than they might sound on paper. Once the boat leaves City Pier, the venue is moving.
Plan accordingly.
An Hour of Music With New London Moving Past
The concept is wonderfully simple.
Take two longtime friends whose music reflects Puerto Rico, Colombia, New York and the larger Latin American experience.
Put them aboard a historic Navy boat.
Leave City Pier.
And spend an hour listening while the New London and Groton waterfronts move past.
There are only two opportunities to do it.
One at 1.
One at 3.
For one Sunday afternoon, the Thames gets a little salsa.
Details
Event: Salsa on the Thames
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2026
Cruise Times: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Duration: One hour
Departure: City Pier, New London
City Pier Address: 1 Waterfront Park, New London, CT 06320
Presented By: Thames River Heritage Park
Occasion: Hispanic Heritage Month
Performers: Alessandra Gonzalez and Daniel Villegas
Music & Culture: Puerto Rican and Colombian influences with live Latin music and percussion
Adult Tickets: $40
Children: $5
Boat: Refurbished former U.S. Navy utility vessel
Restroom: No restroom aboard
Accessibility: Boats are not ADA compliant; passengers must navigate four steps and be able to board and disembark independently with minimal courtesy assistance
Food & Drink: Passengers may bring snacks and beverages; no glass containers
Weather: Cruises are subject to weather and river conditions
Boat Operations: 860-407-5655
More information is available at the Event Website link below.
To purchase tickets, click the Event Ticketing link below.
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.