The West Indian American Day Parade(s) in Brooklyn NYC
A Deeper Dive into the Cultural Origins of the Carnival & Some Particulars About the Celebrations in Brooklyn
September 6, 2023 / NYC Neighborhoods / Brooklyn Parades & Festivals / Brooklyn BLVD NYC. Story & photos by Michael Wood.
Be sure to view our Brooklyn Parades page for time, date & parade route information on J'ouvert & the West Indian American Day Parade 2024 in NYC.
On a sultry Labor Day Monday morning, I set out for the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Crown Heights. The former, covers some of the area in Brooklyn known as Little Caribbean and it was to be the ending point for the Jouvert parade, which serves as the warm up for the larger West Indian American Day Parade.
Be advised that I was not aware of this distinction - two parades by the same group on the same day - until I had arrived and started making inquiries about when and where the actions was.
The Jouvert puportedly started at 11 am inside Prospect Park either at the entrance to the Kids Zoo [still not certain about this, but I'm getting closer to being precise] on Flatbush Avenue or based on a map I saw on the NYPD website, the Jouvert started at Grand Army Plaza, at the north end of Prospect Park. I'll be following up on this, and make the changes here when I get them.
The photo above right was taken at the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn on Labor Day. Many different island cultures celebrate the carnival in unison. The flag in the lower right corner of the photo is Jamaican.
The Jouvert then marched east along Empire Boulevard before turning south on Nostrand Avenue and terminating at Winthrop. I arrived a bit before noon, at Empire Blvd and Nostrand, where the Jouvert Parade had already passed. The Jouvert Parade involves participants adorning themselves with paint and powder, sometimes sharing it with others in a style that reminded me of the Indian Holi celebration.
Speaking of Indians, the West Indies got their name after Columbus discovered them for the Spanish throne. They were called the West Indies, in order to differentiate them from the East Indies, with which the Portuguese had opened up trading routes in the 15th century just prior to Columbus's discovery. The East Indies comprises the islands that lie south of India, the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea and north and west of Australia.
CLICK here to read the rest of our report about the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn over the Labor Day Weekend.
The modern day countries / territories that today comprise the West Indies are: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
But I digress. So, anyhow, after getting re-oriented at Nostrand and Empire, I was directed north toward the Eastern Parkway, where the second parade was about to begin at Buffalo Avenue at 12 noon. So while I missed the Jouvert celebration [which officially began at 6 am - J'ouvert means 'I open' signifying daybreak in French], I had missed none of the larger parade.
The photo at right was taken looking west on the Eastern Parkway toward Buffalo Avenue where the West Indian American Day Parade was marching toward us, shortly after 12 noon.
I'll finish this Wednesday, with a photo slide show of some of the costumes, shops and parade attendees. In the meantime, amusez-vous (have fun).
See our Holidays and Parades section for the 2024 date / times / route and other particulars of the West Indian Parade in Brooklyn.
