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Everyone Loves A Parade
Famous For It's St. Patrick's Day Parade, New York City Is Host To Many Different Cultural Parades Including The Norwegian Parade.
Text and Photography By Karen Landmann
New York City is a diverse, vibrant metropolis. For hundreds of years, immigrants have come to these shores, bringing their traditions, food, music, ways of life. There are many immigrant communities; you can see the diversity any time you walk through the city.
One of the ways that this diversity is celebrated is through parades. Throughout the year, people celebrate their ethnic origins and show the pride they have in their roots through a cultural display. Traffic is rerouted so that the parades can travel along major avenues. Floats take over the city streets as music plays and costumed participants revel.
Most of the parades take place during the warmth of the summer months. However, some of the more hardy brave the elements: In March, thousands of Irish line the streets for St. Patrick's Day. Shamrocks and green colors abound as marching bands play Irish folk songs and classic tunes. Often it is cold in New York on that day, but that has no effect on the crowd; then infectiousness of the festivity is enough to keep everyone warm.
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“Shamrocks and green colors abound as
marching bands play Irish folk songs
and classic tunes."
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The Puerto Rican Pride Parade brings almost a million people from Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. Puerto Ricans who live in New York call themselves "Nuyoricans". This is a time for them to get in touch with their roots. Salsa blares from the floats and people dance along the parade route and in the street. People file though Central Park, making almost impossible to traverse even before the parade starts. Recently, other Latinos have started coming as well to support the Puerto Ricans and celebrate elements common to all Latino cultures. When the parade is passing, people yell, sing, and wave flags in unison.
Gay Pride Parade brings together gays and lesbians of all ages and from vastly diverse cultural backgrounds. It started with the uprising at Stonewall, in Greenwich Village, now commonly called "The Village". At first the parade was very small with just a few onlookers. It has grown exponentially over the 30 years it has been in existence. Now people of all ages and varying disabilities march from Korea, New Zealand, Argentina, Turkey, Russia, and many other countries in the world. Many people go with their children.
African American man in the Gay Pride Parade.
For Caribbean Carnival, people spend months preparing. In the West Indies, carnival is celebrated right before Lent. It starts the week before; the last day is Tuesday, also known as "Mardi Gras", especially in New Orleans. Many traditional Caribbean cultures have a Carnival celebration. It was decided to hold the parade in New York in the summer in order to benefit from the good weather. Costume making begins the winter before as people decide what portions of the Carnival they wish to recreate. Costumes are designed and carefully sewn, often by hand. Steel bands rehearse and dancers practice their moves. Carnival is often called ìMasî, short fro "Masquerade", the idea being that in carnival one can dress up and take on another persona. Some of the biggest Carnivals are in Brazil and Trinidad, but in this parade people participate from many different countries: Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, St. Vincent, Haiti, Grenada, and many others. You can buy rice and peas and roti (potatoes or meat cooked with curry and wrapped in a tortilla-like bread) at the many roadside ìhome cookingî stands.
There are also smaller festivals. In the Turkish National Parade, people come decked out in red and white, the national colors of Turkey. Traditional Turkish clothes are very elaborate and include felt decorations, buttons, and hand embroidery. People wave huge Turkish flags from their cars and dance in the streets.
Pakistani independence is celebrated by a great number of people. They twirl like whirling dervishes and perform intricate dances with swords. Elderly women sit on floats watching over their grandchildren; young girls in long colorful dresses sing songs from the place of their birth.
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“Giant flags adorn store windows and
peddlers carry huge buttons saying
"Kiss Me I'm Norwegian".
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Dominicans are one of the fastest growing Spanish-speaking populations in New York. In mid-August, they celebrate their culture with a vibrant parade that includes music and dancing, both to salsa and other Spanish music and the newest hits off the radio.
Ornate costume worn in the Dominican Parade.
The Ecuadorian Parade takes place in the borough of Queens. The women come dressed in embroidered long white dresses with frills. Many Ecuadorians sell their traditional clothing and handicrafts. They embroider handbags and sew clothing with wool.
Cubans also celebrate their heritage, in early summer. Musicians play traditional tunes on top of the floats. There are fewer Cubans in New York than in Florida, and people of other Hispanic heritage also outnumber them. But their pride runs deep as they celebrate their roots in a country to which it is now very hard to return.
Even Norwegians have a place in the city's celebrations. Although Norway is a small country, you would not guess so by the numbers of people lining the street waving banners. Giant flags adorn store windows and peddlers carry huge buttons saying "Kiss Me I'm Norwegian". Traditional dress is worn, usually consisting of felt vests and long dresses with a great deal of embroidery. Little children run around chanting taunts in Norwegian and English, and rallying speeches herald the contributions of Norwegians to the United States.
This is by no means an extensive list of all the cultural celebrations in New York. Tibetans have a craft and music fair, and African-Americans celebrate at many functions throughout the year. One only needs to walk around the block or take a short trip on the subway to see cultural variation in action. In most neighborhoods there is some display of ethnic pride. These markers only get more intense as the time leads up for each group to have their parade.
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Karen Landmann is a pediatric oncology social worker in New York City. She received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, MD, and her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University. Born in Canada, Karen's fascination with other cultures began at age six when she lived with her family for a year in Guanajuato, Mexico. Russia, Surinam, and Sweden are other places she has resided; her travel experiences span four continents. Karen's work with culturally diverse clients is facilitated by her knowledge of twelve languages. When she is not writing or practicing social work, Karen is an avid photographer.
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