Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC's West Indian Day Parade 2024: What you need to know
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 27, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 27, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Dancers clad in sequined bikinis and feathered tiaras are expected to converge on Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway starting at 11 a.m. on Monday for the annual West Indian Day Parade, the culmination of a week of events celebrating Caribbean culture, music and history.
The parade is one of New York's most spirited, and features lavish costumes and thunderous trucks blasting Caribbean pop loved by some 500,000 New Yorkers of non-Hispanic Caribbean descent.
Over a million people are expected to participate in the parade and surrounding events, according to organizer Anne Rhea Smith, first vice president of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association.
“Each group that's presenting has easily 500 to 1,500 people,” she said in a phone interview. “And we have some wonderful Haitian American groups that are coming on the Parkway and those are easily 4,000 to 5,000 people each.”
What is the West Indian Day Parade?
The parade is a cultural celebration, a dance party and a competition to determine who has the best masquerade costumes. Troupes of paradegoers — known as mas bands, short for masquerade — are judged based on the rules and regulations of Trinidad and Tobago, the traditional home of carnival.
“The judges judge on theme, how you match your theme with the costume and the presentation,” Smith said. “They also match it with the energy of the presentation, how the masqueraders work together to really excite the audience and display their heritage.”
When does the parade start?
Officially, the West Indian Day Parade runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday. However, the parade caps a week of events that includes Steel Panorama and J’Ouvert.
Panorama is a steel drum competition where eight to 10 pan orchestras will compete in front of the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday at 7 p.m.
J’Ouvert, French for “break of day,” is an early morning bacchanal fest involving paint and mud.
What is the parade route?
The parade steps off from Lincoln Terrace Park in Crown Heights and heads west along Eastern Parkway, culminating with a presentation in front of the Brooklyn Museum.
What should attendees expect?
Spectators are welcome to line the street, but only revelers who are registered with a mas band and are wearing wristbands will be allowed to party in the street. Police and private security will stop others.
“It's fun – safe and fun,” Smith said. “We have safety precautions that we put in place. We work with NYPD, we work with many of our crime prevention groups so that we can secure the Parkway for everyone.”
Tagged
new york city
public safety
parks
brooklyn
art
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC tow companies busted for ripping off drivers must give $67K in refunds, city says
Mayor Mamdani has expanded enforcement on towing scams, but the unlicensed towing industry remains largely unregulated.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 4:47 p.m. ET
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Conductor on NYC subway that dragged man to death may have skipped safety check, source says
By
Stephen Nessen
NYPD still searching for man who threw burning substance on victim in East Harlem
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .