Cool breezes off Lake Erie may have tamped down the size of the crowd at the annual Hispanic Music Festival this weekend in LaSalle Park.

But the music itself was still plenty hot.

La Nueva Patrulla 15, a popular merengue band from Puerto Rico, headlined the festival Sunday night, drawing listeners from as far as Syracuse and Erie, Pa., for the conclusion of the 21st annual event that highlights traditional Latin music, food and culture.

“It’s fast music,” said Jose Vargas, who drove from Rochester with his wife and two daughters. “They’re very good.”

“Very popular on the island,” is how Wilda Ramos-Morales described the band. “I love them.”

Ramos-Morales, who was born in Puerto Rico and now lives in Buffalo, is a regular visitor to the festival with her husband and children, all born in the United States.

“I like to bring them here so they can have a taste of [Puerto Rico],” she said.

Vendors reported slower-than-usual traffic at the three-day festival, especially during the daytime. The crowds swelled once the sun set and the more well-known bands took the stage.

“The weather affects it a bit,” said Ramon Rodriguez, founder and primary organizer of the event. “[Saturday] night people showed. It was a younger crowd. We had a reggae band.”

At the Puerto Rico Bakery stand nearby, quesitos — cheese-filled puff pastries—were a big hit with many visitors, said Robert Navarro, an employee.

Navarro described business at the stand on Sunday as “in and out.”

“Yesterday was good,” he said.

The festival’s coinciding with the National Buffalo Wing Festival probably didn’t help attendance, he said.

“You know two festivals at the same time is difficult,” he said.

New to the festival was a $5 cover charge on Sunday — which some people said may have played a role in whether some people stayed away.

Entry in previous years was free, but Rodriguez said the charge was added this year to make up for a loss of corporate sponsorships during the economic downturn.

“The $5 is because the entertainment is so much. We have to cover it somehow,” he said. “We lost a lot of sponsors.”

Vargas said he was surprised more people hadn’t come out for such a popular band.

“Maybe it’s early yet, or maybe the weather. It’s cool,” said Vargas, who showed up in T-shirt and shorts and planned to warm up by dancing with his wife.

“Yeah, we’ll dance. We come to enjoy it,” he said.

Some people were still streaming in late Sunday before the start of La Nueva Patrulla.

“People always wait until the end [to get here],” said Rodriguez. “But the people who are here are going to enjoy a good band.”

Daisy Rosario and Rafael Sanchez said they had no problem with the cover charge.

“Five dollars is nothing compared to the fun we have here,” said Rosario, who drives from Erie, Pa., just about every summer for the festival.

jtokasz@buffnews.comnull