CARNIVALS & FESTIVALS
With all the cultural diversity in Queens and the outlying boroughs, there is a plethora of exciting carnivals, festivals and parades to attend that will enlighten and excite you with great food, colorful costumes and general camaraderie.
Bounty Goodness
Bounty of The Hudson Festival
Hudson River Valley
The Hudson River Valley, just an hour and a half from the city, is home to farms and vineyards of the highest quality. This July 28 & 29 you can taste all that the region has to offer at the 12th Annual Bounty of the Hudson Festival. Based at Brotherhood, the oldest winery in the country, the event will expose you to an array of epicurean delights, all unique to New York.
Once you’ve sipped wines from all 10 wineries on the Shawangunk Wine Trail and filled your plate with cheese, bread and fresh farm produce, take a seat on the grass and enjoy some live music. If you’re feeling ambitious, sign up for a cooking workshop.
Festival hours are noon to 5 p.m. each day. Tickets are $27 with an optional designated driver ticket for an additional $10. To learn more go to shawangunkwinetrail.com or call (845) 496-3661
Viva Colombia
Colombian Celebration
Festival/Parade July 22
People celebrate their heritage at the Colombian Day Parade in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
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It’s only natural for the biggest parks in Queens to host one of the biggest festivals in Queens. On July 22, the Colombian Independence Day Festival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park will serve up traditional food, display Columbian dances and music, and offer good times for all.
The event is one of the largest in the park. While it offers a homecoming of sorts for the borough’s countless Colombians, it’s also a close substitute for those looking to experience another country without leaving home. And, so we’ve heard, Colombians know how to throw a fest.
With this lively festival, the sidewalks will sure to be packed with flag-waving Colombians honoring the music, culture and food of the South American country.
Every major politician makes an appearance, marching alongside revelers and wearing a badge of Honorary Colombian for the day as the country’s yellow, blue and red flag is waved. For those who’ve never experienced a Northern Boulevard parade, the scene can be surreal: sidewalks packed elbow to elbow, and two lanes of traffic in either direction flooded with proud marchers, ornate floats. The only thing louder than the music is the often-blown whistles that seem to be a call for more enjoyment.
The dress is, as you might imagine, extremely casual. (Flags worn as do-rags are perfectly acceptable.) And nobody’s too old for a little yellow, blue and red face painting.
Even the Empire State Building gets into the spirit, lighting the sky with the Colombian flag’s colors.
The parade takes place from about 69th to 90th Streets on Northern Boulevard, and the festival will take place at Festival Square in Flushing Meadows.
Block Party
Brighton Neighborhood Jubilee
Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn
(718) 891-0800
www.brightonbeach.com
Aug. 27, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
This beachside festival is an annual Brooklyn pow-wow for all ages, and has everything you can expect from a neighborhood gathering. For the kids, there are a number of mascots and characters walking the dock and various rides and attractions to spread smiles.
There is also a host of different foods and crafts to be sold at booths spread throughout the festival area. Four different stages will provide live entertainment.
More than 150,000 people participated in last year’s event, and this year’s extravaganza is set to be as colorful as ever. With a world-famous boardwalk and an old-style community feel, Brighton Beach is a wonderful destination in the summertime. People throughout the city grab their umbrellas and beach towels and enjoy a nice day in the sand.
Island Jubilee
West Indian American Day
Carnival
Eastern Parkway between Utica Ave. and Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn
(718) 467-1797
www.wiadca.org
Sept. 3, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Stroll the beach during the Brighton Jubilee.
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At the West Indian American Day Carnival, expect to see a lot of scary masks and fabulous make up jobs. Many colorful and sometimes strange characters come out of the woodwork for this crowd participation event. Parade-goers are advised to wear comfortable clothing and something they don’t mind getting a little messy, as dye and powder throwing are a frequent tradition in this parade.
It is good to attend this parade on an empty stomach. Eastern Parkway will be lined to the hilt with food stands with delicacies that include jerk chicken, oxtail, macaroni pie, fried flying fish, curry goat, coconut bread and much more.
The West Indian American Day Carnival began in the 1940s and draws more than 3 million people each year. The New York celebration is bigger than any other West Indian celebration in the United States.
Desis Marching
Pakistani Day Parade
Madison Ave., 41st-23rd St.
(212) 693-1660
Aug. 26, 1-3:30 p.m.
With its name meaning “Land of the Pure,” Pakistan is a prosperous Muslim country in South Asia with thousands of its émigrés living in New York City. The country celebrates its Independence Day Aug. 14, recounting the 1947 partition of India that led to the unification of East and West Pakistan.
The Pakistani Day Parade in Manhattan holds as much energy and patriotism as any other in the city. Don’t be surprised to hear traditional Pakistani folk music, including styles like “Qawwali” and “Ghazal Gayaki,” as well as a slew of American bands taking part in the parade.
The day will be filled with floats promoting Pakistani American business and a myriad of spectacular performances by costumed dancers.
Jam On Jamaica
JAMS Festival
Jamaica Avenue
Aug. 4-5
Southeast Queens’ streets are filed with people celebrating the Jamaica Arts Music Summer Festival known as JAMS.
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The multicultural fabric of Queens emerges from behind store counters and out of the doors of hundreds of homes filling 10 blocks with the colors, sounds and aromas of what it means to be from Southeast Queens.
The Jamaica Arts Music Summer (JAMS) Festival, which attracts more than 100,000 residents and visitors to downtown Jamaica every year, is one of the boroughs largest vehicles for tourism, but more importantly brings families to the street to celebrate their cultures.
The two-day festival that revolves around a day of multi-cultural family fun and entertainment, begins with an Under the Stars concert at Rufus King Park, where the dancing begins, and continues with a view into the history of Jamaica and where the community is heading with an emerging artist JAMS Jazz session.
There’s even one block designated for children-only, which features free rides, popcorn, clowns, balloon sculptors, face painters and entertainment.
To learn more go to www.go2ccj.org.
The Simple Life
Kutztown Festival
Kutztown, Penn.
June 30-July 8, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Enjoy the tradition and culture of the Kutztown Festival.
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Affordable family fun is in abundance at the Kutztown Folk Festival, taking place June 30 to July 8 at the Kutztown Fairgrounds.
The event features America’s largest quilt sale, a virtual gallery of more than 2,000 quilts displayed for sale. The festival will also feature live shows at the Children’s Farmyard Theater, 200 folk artists and traditional American craftsmen demonstrating and offering an exceptional range of fine works, six stages of folksy entertainment and, most importantly, a bounty of Pennsylvania Dutch Food including funnel cake, waffles, pretzels, smoke meats, ox roast and much more.
The Kutztown Festival also offers a window into Pennsylvania living history and folk life. Daily Admission to the Festival is $12. For more information, go to www.kutztownfestival.com.
Dominican Pride
Dominican Day Parade
Sixth Ave. from 36th St. to 62nd St., Manhattan
Aug. 13, 12 p.m.
From the land of Puerto Plata and Pedro Martinez comes a parade that celebrates the heritage of the Dominican Republic. This annual parade will take place on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan and offer a spectacle like no other.
Dancers of all ages will groove in wild costumes while delicious food is served, making this parade live and breathe. Hundreds of thousands of people congregate each summer as merengue bands pound on drums and provocatively dressed women shake their hips to the beat.
Relish the energy and excitement that only the Dominican Republic can bring to the streets of Manhattan when the sun is shining overhead.
