This browser does not support the Video element.
West Indian Day Parade steps off Monday
The biggest event for the Caribbean diaspora in New York City is almost here, as on Monday, the 57th annual West Indian Day Parade will march down Eastern Parkway.
NEW YORK - Get your flags, sequence, and feathers ready!
The West Indian Day Parade 2024 is Monday, Sept. 2 along Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway.
The event celebrates Caribbean culture, food, history, and traditions with costumes and live steelpan performances.
NYC West Indian Day Parade 2024: Times, route, street closures and more
The West Indian American Day Parade 2024 will kick off in NYC, with thousands of revelers dancing and marching along Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway in one of the world’s largest celebrations of Caribbean culture. Here's everything you need to know about the event.
The parade will go from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Lincoln Terrace Park in Crown Heights, then west along Eastern Parkway, ending in front of the Brooklyn Museum.
The celebration is expected to close several streets along its route. Here's everything you need to know about the parade.
SKIP TO: Street Closures | West Indian Countries | Events
What is the West Indian Day Parade?
This browser does not support the Video element.
West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn
Despite a few incidents, the West Indian American Day Parade stepped off in style in Brooklyn on Monday, with brightly colored costumes, steel bands, flag waving and street dancing.
The parade consists of a competition for the best masquerade costume. Groups of paradegoers known as mas bands are judged based on rules and regulations from Trinidad and Tobago, the home of Carnival.
Over a million people are expected to participate in the parade and the events leading up, according to organizers.
West Indian Day Parade NYC events
This browser does not support the Video element.
West Indian Day Parade
A scaled-back West Indian Day Parade was held on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on Labor Day 2021.
Unlike most parades, this one is preceded by a week-long display of festivities and a grand finale Carnival Parade.
The parade will follow the popular event J’Ouvert, which is French for "break of day," an early morning celebration involving paint and mud.
The parade route marches on Eastern Parkway from Utica Avenue to Grand Army Plaza.
- Soca Fest at the Brooklyn Museum Aug. 30
- Junior Carnival at the Brooklyn Museum Aug. 31
- J'Ouvert on Eastern Parkway at 6 a.m. on Sept. 2
- Carnival at Lincoln Terrace Park at 11 a.m. on Sept. 2
For tickets, click here.
List of West Indian countries
The parade features hundreds of lavish costumes, dancers and music representing the various countries that make up the West Indies.
The West Indies consists of 13 island countries and territories surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
- Cuba
- Jamaica
- Haiti
- Dominican Republic
- Puerto Rico
- US Virgin Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- Anguilla
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Antigua Barbuda Montserrat
- Guadeloupe
- Dominica
- Martinique
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Barbados
- Grenada
- The Bahamas
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Aruba
- Curaçao
- Bonaire
- Bermuda
- Sint Maarten
Women are getting ready to participate in the West Indian American Day Parade marking the Labour Day in Brooklyn, Borough of New York City on September 04, 2023. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP) (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
How to get to the West Indian Day Parade
On-site parking is available in a lot behind the Museum, off Washington Avenue.
During normal service, take the 2/3 to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum, which is a wheelchair accessible station.
Transfer to 2/3 from 4/5 (at Nevins Street) and B, D, Q, N, R, and LIRR (at Atlantic Terminal-Barclays Center).
West Indian Day Parade NYC Street Closures
The following streets will be closed for the West Indian American Day Junior Carnival on Saturday, Aug. 31.
- St. John’s Place between Kingston Avenue and Franklin Avenue
- Franklin Avenue between St. John’s Place and President Street
- President Street between Franklin Avenue and Washington Avenue
- Washington Avenue between Sterling Place and Empire Boulevard
- Classon Avenue between President Street and Eastern Parkway
J’Ouvert & West Indian American Labor Day Parade and Festival
The following streets will be closed for the J’Ouvert & West Indian American Labor Day Parade and Festival from Sunday, Sept. 1 to Monday, Sept. 2.
- Grand Army Plaza (Entire Circle)
- Buffalo Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
- Rochester Avenue between East New York Avenue and Sterling Place
- Ralph Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
- East New York Avenue between Howard Avenue and Utica Avenue
- Eastern Parkway between Howard Avenue and Grand Army Plaza
- Washington Avenue between Sterling Place and Lincoln Road
- Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and Caton Avenue
- Ocean Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Parkside Avenue
- Butler Place between Grand Army Plaza and Sterling Place
- St. Johns Place between Underhill Avenue and Grand Army Plaza
- Rockaway Parkway between East New York Avenue and Rutland Road
- Parkside Avenue between Park Circle and Flatbush Avenue
- Bedford Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Empire Boulevard
- Empire Boulevard between Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue
- Nostrand Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Linden Boulevard
- Lincoln Place between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue