The Easter Parade is a notable cultural occasion which takes place on Easter Sunday. It is basically a festive walking parade which can be said to be an unofficial event which has little or no religious attachment.
Conventionally, people who participate in this event, are usually seen to sing an Easter’s flowers, whilst donning their Easter parade hats, thereby making the entire procession a colorful one.
Table of Contents
In New York, Easter parade or Easter bonnet parade as it is also called is a popular event, and preparations to make the Easter parade NYC 2019 a success, is already underway.
Taking a brief look at how Easter parade started in New York, it can be seen that it commenced as a regular event in the 1870s, gaining popularity in the 19th century, particularly in 1947, when it attracted over one million people.
However, the fame of this event reduced drastically, attracting just 30,000 individuals in 2008.
The inception of the Easter parade in New York
From the end of the 18th century all through to the mid-19th century, the Easter parade in New York happened to be one of the major cultural representations of Easter in America. It basically served as one of the ways whereby people could identify with, and celebrate Easter.
The proceeds gotten from the parade where usually given to the ornamented churches in New York such as St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
During the mid-19th century, the above-mentioned churches began to decorate their place of worship with Easter flowers. At first, this new movement was greeted with resistance by traditionalists, it was later generally accepted.
The practice of the Easter parade gained expansion, and the show of flowers became more sophisticated, as they became ideal models of class, wealth and originality.
With time, people who attended these churches, integrated the standards of the floral displays, into their dress pattern.
According to a report in 1873, it was observed that during Easter at Christ Church, a good number of the congregation who were ladies, put to display, all manner of elegant and stunning dresses, which gave the church an overall magnificent outlook, coupled with the display of flowers which were used to grace the chancel.
Easter parade in New York: The blend of fashion and religion
In the late-18th century, the 1880s to be precise, the Easter parade had already evolved into what could be called, a broad display of both religious ceremony and fashion, which became very famous in New York and in the country at large.
For the elite at that time, it became an event which held after church, where they would stroll out in their well-donned attires, to other churches to see the clothes of fellow-elites, and the flowers used for their own church decoration.
This became an opportunity for those in the middle-class and below, to learn the latest fashion trends after properly observing the parade done by the elite.
In 1890, the procession which held annually, held a notable spot in New York’s calendar of events, having the tag “The Easter Parade”. With time, the parade alongside the holiday became very essential, traders seized this opportunity to advertise them while promoting their goods.
Before then, in 1875, Easter was a not too popular event. However, in 1900, it became almost as important to merchants as the Christmas season.
Criticism Against Easter Parade
As expected, not everyone was happy about the show of class and beauty during the Easter parades. Critics expressed their concern over this display, which they tagged as “uncalled for”. Edwin Markham who happened to be a social critic, pointed out in 1914, that the workers who crafted the Easter’s flowers were going through a lot of hardship which many people were unaware of.
As a matter of fact, the period of the Great Depression, saw the workers do their own parade by ensuring that the public knew what was going on as regards their condition. It was seen that the cost of a fifth avenue gown, could feed a job seeker and his family for an entire year.
These days, people who live in New York observe the Easter parade with much joy. All families would ensure that they are dressed in their best Sunday clothes, even down to their pets.
Hardly would you see any New Yorker who does not participate in Easter parade. Those who might be too old to stroll could sit down to see an Easter parade movie, or perhaps sing an Easter parade song.
Easter Parade schedule in New York
On Easter Sunday in New York, Easter parade holds on the fifth avenue, between 49th to 57th streets in Manhattan between the time frame of 10 am to 4 pm. All New Yorkers are encouraged to partake and dress to the best of their capacity.
The Easter parade in New York for 2019, promises to be one like no other, as plans are already in place to ensure that it is an event which would be talked about all over the world.
New Yorkers look forward to every Easter parade event, and this year is not an exception. The Easter parade for 2019 has some benefits for those who partake, and these benefits are what New Yorkers always stand to gain whenever they gather for this ceremonious event.
Easter Parade in New York for 2019
First off, the Easter parade NYC 2019, promises to be an avenue for New Yorkers to bond with one another. People who live in New York would have the opportunity to meet with others, have productive conversations, share ideas amongst others.
Just like in times past, it has always been what New Yorkers often look forward to whenever Easter approaches. In addition to this, the Easter parade in New York city also affords people the privilege to reunite with family members who they have not had the cause to see in the past year.
Here, family members would gather at the house of any one of them after the parade, have long discussions, eat sumptuous meals and have a nice time. In New York, Easter parade is an event which people look forward to, and 2019’s edition promises not to be an exception.
Leave a Reply