Articles | Webography | Know Your Rights: A Guide for Subway Musicians & Other Street Performers
CELEBRATIONS • June |
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National Heritage
Folkloric Festival This festival showcases the folklore of Cyprus and Greece through unique and exciting performances of traditional dance and song in the Bohemian Hall. The event's social context is Turkey's conquest of Cyprus and the subsequent exile of many Cypriots. For more information: Cypriot Emigrants Cultural Organization of America, 718-626-7896, http://208.55.253.21/depts/cultural_affairs/theatre.htm last update: 9/2003
National Puerto
Rican Day Parade In a grand show of solidarity within New York's Puerto Rican community, this parade is one of the city's best loved and one of the world's largest. The red, white, and blue flags seem to blanket the city, and the revelry can be felt far beyond Fifth Avenue. The spectacle features marching bands and drill teams, dance groups, and costumes in a lavish celebration of the homeland. Floats depicting images of Puerto Rican towns are followed by town residents, with the local beauty queen riding atop. Celebrity guests, local politicians and dignitaries are joined by Puerto Rican delegates and mayors from several of the Island's cities. For more information: National Puerto Rican Day Parade, http://www.boricua.com/prparade2003, 718-401-0404. last update: 9/2003
Tribute to the Ancestors of the Middle Passage In a moving ceremony
of collective memory, thousands of African-Americans gather oceanside
to pay homage to those who died during the infamous slave-ship voyages
known as the Middle Passage. At exactly noon, simultaneously with other
Tributes to the Ancestors being held elsewhere in the globe, there will
be the pouring of the libation and a special drumming tribute by numerous
drummers and musicians along with tributes of poetry, dance, and dramatization
of the slaves' capture. A formal procession to the ocean is followed by
a sundown Ancestral Offering as the Ancestral Drummers lead us to the
water's edge where we each place flowers into the Atlantic Ocean, the
largest African burial ground in the world. last update: 9/2003
Mermaid Parade Begun in 1982 by artists celebrating Coney Island and ocean mythology, this parade has become a fabled event in the roster of New York City festivals. Fanciful, often outrageous costumes of mermaids and other creatures of the sea fill the streets on foot and on floats, while marching bands and antique cars provide a conventional side to this celebration of the summer solstice. King Neptune and Queen Mermaid preside in Brooklyn's own version of Mardi Gras with good, clean debauchery! For more information: http://www.coneyislandusa.com/mermaid.shtml, Coney Island USA, 718/372B5159. last update: 9/2003
San Juan Bautista Fiesta The great outdoor mass that defines this festival evolves from the first ethnic mass given by St. Patrick's Cathedral. Since 1952, San Juan Bautista, the patron saint of Puerto Rico has been celebrated on a large scale, as a demonstration of new immigrants' struggle to retain the religious traditions of their homeland. Today the festival is a mix of sacred and secular traditions. Battery Park becomes Puerto Rico for a day; food and music abound; children run and play, and everyone dances. At one o'clock the formal procession of the statue of the Saint begins followed by a mass given in Spanish to an eager crowd. Afterward, a giant piñata is ceremoniously broken by and the festivities continue until nightfall. For more information: Office for Hispanic Affairs of the Archdiocese of New York, 212-371-1000 x2982. last update: 9/2003
Caribbean Cultural
Heritage Festival Ethnic cuisine is a priority at this celebration of the shared heritage of French, English, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. Roti, curries, oxtail, pelau, jerk dishes, pillouri, black cake, sugar cane and Caribbean-style Chinese food are just a few of the dishes available in and around stages of continuous live music. Outdoor workshops on Caribbean culture are held early in the day, and entertainment prevails in the afternoon and evening, when the music, dance, and camaraderie of thousands of Caribbean-Americans turn the area into "the islands." For more information: VIDCAT, 718-338-9120, vitcat1350@netzero.net last update: 9/2003
New York City Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride March Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender New Yorkers, their friends, families, and supporters, march in a moving show of unity that is at times wild and raucous, at others somber and serious. Organizations such as Gay Men's Health Crisis, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, People with Aids Coalition, and the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, among others, march among glittering floats to the beat of fabulous music. The celebratory march ends at Christopher Street with a festival and dance at the Hudson River Waterfront. Other events occur during Pride week as listed on the website. For more information: www.nycpride.org, Heritage Pride, Inc. 212-807-7433 last update: 9/2003 |
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