Overview by
Month Top
January: Start the New Year with the iconic Lowering of
the Ball in Times Square. Parades this month include the Three Kings
Parade, a colorful and festive Christmas affair in Spanish Harlem, doen
Latin-American style, and the Chinese New Year Parade (or in
February).
February:
Depending on the moon, the Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year
Parade fall either in late January or early February. Also this month is
the Presidents Day Parade.
March:
Share the luck of the Irish with the St. Patrick's Day Parade - the
oldest parade in America. There are also Irish American parades,
Phagwha Parade (which celebrates an ancient story of the triumph over
evil) and the Greek Independence Day Parade.
April:
The Easter Promenade affords an opportunity for New Yorkers to sport
their most outrageous bonnets, while others dress as their favorite fool for
the April Fool's Parade. The Sikh Cultural Society Parade and
Festival takes place in late April.
May:
There are multiple Memorial Day parades, as well as Fleet Week.
There are numerous other parades this month, including Cuban Day,
Bronx Latinos Unidos, Dance March, Global Marijuana March,
Turkish-American Parade, Haitian Flag Day,
Norweigian-American 17th of May, Martin Luther King Jr./369th
Regiment Parade, Haitian-American Day Parade and Greater NY
Good Neighbor Parade.
June:
The calvacade of parades continues, with Phillipine Independence Day,
several pride parades (Queens, Brooklyn, GLBT Pride), Hare Krishna
Parade, Puerto Rican Day (the largest of several Puerto Rican
parades - draws 800,000), Children's Evangelical Parade, Bronx
Parade, and the wacky and wonderful Mermaid Parade on Coney
Island.
July:
4th of July celebrations include the Travis Fourth of July Parade,
Great 4th of July Festival and Chinatown Independence Day Festival.
There isn't the multitude of parades that you see in May and June, but there
is the Captive Nations Parade and the Festival de Gran Parada
Dominicana del Bronx.
August: Plenty of parades to close out the summer season! Enjoy
the thrills of the Dragon Boat Festival, or take part in
one of two (or both!)Puerto Rican Day parades in the Bronx
and Brooklyn. There's also the Christian Youth Parade,
India Independence Day Parade, Dominican Day Parade,
and Pakistan Independence Day Parade.
September: With Labor Day Weekend
comes the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade (Brooklyn
Carnival). There are tons of other September parades and
festivals, including the Caribbean American Family Day Festival,
Brazil Independence Day Festival, the colorful
SoHo Art Parade, Feast of San Genarro,
Steuban Day, International Cultures Parade,
Muslim Day, Mexican Day,
and African-American Day. Two other notable events:
Wigstock, the legendary dragstravaganza, and the
Washington Square Outdoor Exhibit, which is one of the
oldest juried art shows in New York City.
October:
The first weekend of October sees both the Columbus Day
and Hispanic Day parades. There's also the Bam New
Wave Festival, and several other parades including the
Nigerian Parade, Pulaski Day Parade,
Korean Harvest Day Parade, and New York is Book Country
Children's Day Parade. And of course, at the end of the month
there's the famed Village Halloween Parade with its
signature puppets.
November: The best-known parade is the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade, with its giant floats, but there's
also the Veterans Day Parade, and the Toys R Us
Holiday Parade. Other major events include the
Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, which signals the start of
Christmas Season in New York City, the non-stop celebration of Caribbean
food, music and culture known as Reggae Carifest, and
the New York City Marathon.
December:
There are musical events as holiday traditions in December. Christmas
concerts include the Radio City Christmas Spectacular,
Vienna Boys Choir at Carnegie Hall, the performance of
Handel's Messiah in the stunning St. John the
Divine gothic cathedral, the Handel's Messiah Singalong
at Lincoln Center, and the festive jazz and gospel show put on the by the
choirs of Harlem at the Riverside Church Candlelight Carol Festival.
Other holiday traditions include the Nutcracker at Lincoln
Center, ice-skating at Rockefeller center, the
Winter Solstice Concert at St. John the Divine, and the lighting of
Yaakov Agam's 32-foot tall Menorah on 5th Ave. |