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.

Resources:a> NYC Parade & Festival 

Festival and Event Guides: We've got your best best online here.
NYCVisit.com offers a compreshensive listing if you search the Events calendar. To find a listing of major permitted events, check the Parade Listings by nyc.gov Community Assistance Unit. Jim's Deli is a NY city guide that offers a monthly breakdown of street fairs, as does newyorkmetro.com. NYCStreetFairs.com offers a listing of annual street festivals, though it doesn't offer as many details as Jim's Deli. World Guides New York offers more general coverage, but is a good resource for those visiting the Big Apple.

Also worth a look :
New York Event Guide Network focuses its coverage on the few big mainstream events happening each month. New York's Street Fairs (by NYCTourist.com) is worth a look. Certain sections of this site are out of date, but they do maintain a current street fairs section.
http://www.goingout101.com/newyorkevents.htm

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New York Visitor & Convention Bureau www.nycvisit.com || 800 NYC-VISIT  692-8474 to request info. Speak to a counselor: 212 484-1222 (Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm) or stop by their office at Columbus Circle....

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