J'Ouvert 2022 in Brooklyn

NEW YORK - The 2022 J'Ouvert celebration will be back to its full in-person festival in Brooklyn for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

J'Ouvert 2022 will be held on Sept. 5th from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m., beginning at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn and heading south until it ends at Nostrand Avenue and Rutland Road. The theme this year is "Rejuvenate; Braking the Chain and Embracing the Movement."

The parade will be followed by the traditional New York West Indian-American Day Carnival Parade from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., beginning at Ralph  Avenue & Eastern Parkway and ending at Grand Army Plaza.

The name J'Ouvert originates from the French jour ouvert, meaning day break or morning, and signals the start of Carnival.  It is the largest street party that is held in Brooklyn.  An estimated 2 million people attend the event annually.

In Trinidad, it came from when slavery ended.  The event shows the evil of slavery.  The paint that participants use is to mock the former slave masters.

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Steel band music is the dominating sound of J'Ouvert as revelers take to the street in the early hours before the daytime West Indian Day Carnival.

The parade will start on Eastern Parkway and Grand Army Plaza by the library.  It will go down Flatbush Ave. and turn onto Empire Boulevard.  The route then travels to Nostrand Ave. and ends at Midwood St.

For more information on this year’s NYC Carnival Celebration, you can visit the West Indian American Day Carnival Association website.

The traditional West Indian Day Parade was canceled in 2020 and 2021.

The NYPD says it will have enhanced patrols at the event in order to keep participants safe.  There have been some violent incidents at past events.