Creativity on display at New York City's annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival
NEW YORK -- On Easter Sunday, the crowds weren't only inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, but outside of it for the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival.
New Yorker's creativity was clearly on display.
From Peter Rabbit, to pizza, to a rabbit eating pizza, Fifth Avenue set the stage for whimsy and sensory overload.
"I love it. I love it. It's one of my happy places," said Elizabeth Bays of Midtown West.
The Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival, known to have started in the late 1800s, has become a statement in pop culture where New Yorkers don their Easter Sunday best and quirkiest, like "Mother Pigeon," who wanted to highlight the city's infamous and most beloved critters, especially the late Flaco.
"It's a beautiful event to celebrate the sun and beauty of our city," Mother Pigeon said.
It's a day to make a statement, not only in fashion, but like artist Christian Pietrapiana, who was wearing all plastic.
"We're celebrating spring. We're celebrating life, and we're choking the planet with plastic," Pietrapiana said.
Whether it took just a few minutes or a few months, putting the hats together in such painstaking detail is really a time investment.
"We did about five to six months just walking on the hats, just getting the idea on the table," said Zoe Haggerty Charlote of New York City.
Father-daughter duo James and Zoe were inspired after last Easter's parade. They based their tasty looking hats off something they both love.
"You and I know where the great pizza is," James Haggerty said.
The festival and parade takes place right outside of the Easter Sunday Masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a busy day for Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who praises the beloved event.
"I love it. I'm hardly able to participate because, you'd understand, the Mass takes precedence," Dolan said. "Our city needs it, don't you think? We need a little Easter right this very moment."
"I just wanted to come here just to have some fun," added Abigail Boyce of Flatbush, Brooklyn.
It was all much needed after a long winter. Some are already planning on what to wear next year.