Parades and Festivals of New York

If you don’t see a parade during your visit, you’ll miss one of New York’s most colourful

Fifth Avenue or some other.

St. Patrick’s Day (patron saint of Ireland) on March 17. Fifth Avenue has its centre stripe painted green and the procession lasts all afternoon. Everybody wears some green in honour of Ireland. You’ll see more nuns here than in Italy, as well as green-clad majorettes, blue with the cold. Under the benevolent eye of the mounted police (almost all Irish), plenty of alcohol is downed (to ward off the cold, of course).

The Easter Parade meanders up Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. More a promenade than a parade, it’s just a lot of people decked out in their spring finery. A good chance to see the best and worst in American fashion.

The Puerto Rican Day parade takes place in June. All the island’s dignitaries fly into Nueva York to participate. Hardly the most orderly procession; in fact it’s often quite wild.

The Columbus Day parade, on the second Monday in October, is primarily an Italian affair, but the rest of New York turns out to watch.

Fresh-faced girls with pompons go through their earnest paces in patriotic Fifth Avenue parade.

The Veterans’ parade in November honours those who served in the armed forces.

The Thanksgiving parade, on the fourth Thursday of November, marches up Broadway. The big stars are huge, inflated balloons of favourite cartoon characters. This is the parade for kids.

Parades and Festivals of New York Photo Gallery



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