Ifègbemìí
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The West Indian Day Parade (also known as the Labor Day Parade or the West Indian/Caribbean Carnival of New York City) had its September beginnings in 1947 and appeared in Harlem along Seventh Avenue starting on 110th Street (just north of Central Park.) It was organized by the Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee.
For reasons unknown to us now, the permit for the parade in Harlem was revoked in 1964, but through the efforts of a group of people who were to eventually become the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association, the event was resurrection in 1969 in the heavily Caribbean area of Crown Heights, Brooklyn along Eastern Parkway. That tradition which features the pulsating, rhythmic music of the Caribbean (principally soca), flamboyantly colored masquerades where celebrants clamor to "play mas'", sensual and freewheeling dancing, representatives from innumerable Caribbean countries, thematic bands, displays of floats, as well as a host of politicians seeking recognition in the community, continues although the annual parade now occurs on Labor Day every year. The neighborhood composition has experienced a steady change through gentrification which makes it anybody's guess how long this tradition will remain here in Crown Heights. However, as of 2017, the tradition survives and is very much alive!
IMG_0750.jpg
The West Indian Day Parade (also known as the Labor Day Parade or the West Indian/Caribbean Carnival of New York City) had its September beginnings in 1947 and appeared in Harlem along Seventh Avenue starting on 110th Street (just north of Central Park.) It was organized by the Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee.
For reasons unknown to us now, the permit for the parade in Harlem was revoked in 1964, but through the efforts of a group of people who were to eventually become the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association, the event was resurrection in 1969 in the heavily Caribbean area of Crown Heights, Brooklyn along Eastern Parkway. That tradition which features the pulsating, rhythmic music of the Caribbean (principally soca), flamboyantly colored masquerades where celebrants clamor to "play mas'", sensual and freewheeling dancing, representatives from innumerable Caribbean countries, thematic bands, displays of floats, as well as a host of politicians seeking recognition in the community, continues although the annual parade now occurs on Labor Day every year. The neighborhood composition has experienced a steady change through gentrification which makes it anybody's guess how long this tradition will remain here in Crown Heights. However, as of 2017, the tradition survives and is very much alive!