Preparations underway for 56th Annual West Indian American Day Parade and Carnival
NEW YORK -- New Yorkers will be celebrating Caribbean culture at the West Indian American Day Parade on Monday, but there are lots of celebrations happening in the days ahead and lots of history behind them.
The 56th Annual West Indian American Day Parade and Carnival is less than a week away, and the preparations are well underway.
The parade will be along Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway.
Organizers say just as in years past, there will be no shortage of floats, masqueraders, food, music and vendors.
"It's so symbolic because it represented their freedom," said Cecille Ford, with the West Indian American Day Carnival Association.
The home of carnival is Trinidad and Tobago, but it has also evolved into several other countries and cities, including here in New York City. It started in Harlem in the 1930s and moved to Brooklyn in the 1960s.
"It actually started from the emancipated slaves who mimicked the slave masters who had these masquerade balls," Ford said. "The steel pan was the gift of Trinidad and Tobago to the world."
Steel Sensation will be competing this weekend at the annual Panorama event at the Brooklyn Museum, where pan players and steel pan bands will showcase their skills.
"In Trinidad, they banned African drumming, so they were looking for other ways to express themselves," said steel pan player Tristen Japsi.
"Soca music is the root of the culture. It's the music of the carnival," said soca star Farmer Nappy.
Nappy has been making music and collaborating with soca legends since he was a kid.
"So soca really came from calypso, and calypso came from, like, extempo, like in the slavery days ... Soca music to me is love," he said.
According to New York City's Office of Immigration Affairs, the city is home to millions of Caribbean immigrants. That's one reason why the parade is held on Labor Day.
"A great part of the working population is from Caribbean, immigrants, and they are part of the greater workforce here in New York City," Ford said.
That's why Eastern Parkway is the home away from home for Caribbean New Yorkers who attend every year.
The festivities kick off on Thursday with several events leading up to the big parade along Eastern Parkway on Monday.
For a full list of events taking place leading up to the parade on Monday, visit wiadcacarnival.org/events.html.
