Each year on Easter celebrants don festive finery and show off their very best bonnets along Fifth Avenue at the Easter Parade & Easter Bonnet Festival. On Easter Sunday Fifth Avenue (from 49th St to 57th St) is closed for traffic. The fun in Midtown Manhattan begins at about 10 am and lasts throughout the afternoon till 4 pm. The promenade of weird funny and inventive costumes attracts crowds of spectators.
You might wonder how a parade with such a relatively short route measuring less than half a mile can last virtually a whole day. The reason is this celebration is only called a parade while in fact it's more of an informal costumed street extravaganza. People can join at any moment or stop whenever they like for some food or shopping.
The best place to watch is from the area around St. Patrick’s Cathedral; better yet bring your bonnet and join the parade.
Bonnets are of course essential and irreplaceable for parade-goers. You'll be amazed at their oddness and creativity. You can marvel at hats topped with piles of eggs lots of flowers or even live animals like rabbits or pet snakes! Frames carrots flower pots or bird cages are popular too. Some hats are tiny and some are huge but all are worth seeing because imagination has no limits!
The tradition of holding Easter Parades has been observed for more than 130 years in New York. Although no floats or music bands existed in the 1880s women still wore their most beautiful hats and clothes. Streets and churches were decorated with flowers and the mood was just as joyful as nowadays. In the 20th century the New York City Easter Parade was one of the largest in the USA with equal emphasis on fashion and religious rituals. As years have flown by the Easter Parade has become more and more extravagant and colorful.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Fifth Avenue, 49th Street to 59th Street, New York, United States
