NYC 13 Weeks of Adventure: Week 10 - West Indian Day Parade
An annual celebration that caps a week full of festivity, pride, and revelry in West Indian culture.
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Last week, we went waist-deep into the culture with the Apollo Theatre, and today, I got something for your headtop.
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The only place to be on Labor Day in New York City is Eastern Parkway for the West Indian Day Parade1. As a first-generation American, this annual event fuels my desire to wine, jump, and wave, while also bringing summer to an (unofficial) close with a bang.
It was also my introduction to the carnival lifestyle, so finding my way to the parkway on the first Monday in September feels like a pilgrimage back to my roots.
Although the Labor Day Parade has been a Brooklyn tradition since 1969, its origin stretches back to Harlem. The first recorded outdoor parade was on September 1, 1947, but years earlier, Trinidadian immigrant Jessie Waddell and friends held indoor Carnival celebrations in February to align with Trinidad’s festivities. The occasion made its way outdoors and into better weather as confinement and cold temperatures don't capture Carnival's lively, free-spirited energy.
Although the event attracts millions of revelers from around the world, it is only one part of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association's weeks-long offering. They also organize Brass Fest, the Panorama steelpan competition, and a children’s carnival, which all lead up to Monday’s mas(querade).
Beneath the bright costumes, loud music, and the scent of jerk chicken, Carnival and its pre-dawn counterpart, J’ouvert—meaning "daybreak"—are deeply rooted in colonialism and slavery. After emancipation, Africans in Trinidad used these celebrations to reject the dark horrors of servitude and embrace their bright futures of newfound freedom. The contrast between bondage and liberty, dutty and clean, and night turning to day all symbolize a profound shift in the social order, a reclamation of identity, and a reimagining of what they had once been excluded from.
There’s much to love about the parade - dancing in the street, surprise performances2, and reverberating basslines throughout the train stations below - but what gets me every time is seeing a familiar face no matter what time of day I go. The camaraderie is high while people wine low, and vendors sell everything from mangos and flags to guinep and shaved ice. The West Indian Day Parade celebrates the vibrant spirit of the Caribbean and its people who call New York City home. It’s a cultural celebration, an exclamation point that we are alive and proud of where we come from.
LET ME KNOW
Have you ever played mas? Is it something you look forward to doing?
Does anything beat getting dressed up and dancing with hordes of people who want to have fun?
What’s been your favorite intersection with West Indian culture? Is it the food, music, visiting an island, or something else?
If a West Indian child comes home from school with a pencil that their friend gave them, what is their parent’s response?
Officially, the event is the West Indian American Day Parade, but I refuse to call it that.
Ding Dong and Spice popped out.
Ughhhhh I miss NYC so much sometimes. But especially on Labor Day.
(And your last question: I AM CACKLING. "Yuh friend think we nuh have pencil at home? Give it back!")
I have done everything at this point but play mas (how I ended up on the top of a big truck this year is a mystery) 😂 I’m taking it as my sign that I’m not meant to play mas for the first time in the States.
And they better take that pencil right back to its owner!