The parade had been marred by rainfall over the past several years but this year on September 6, it felt like God was smiling down as millions of revelers gathered along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway for the 37th Annual West Indian American Day Parade. Men, women and children of all ages either crowded onto the parkway in marvelous masquerade costumes – which often included metallic material and lots of feathers – or stood behind metal barricades waving their country’s flag while watching the magnificent and great spectacle. All were united as they gyrated to the pulsating music passing by on giant sound trucks.
The aroma of enticing Caribbean cuisine filled the air, wafting from the hundreds of booths offering such foods as boil corn, jerk chicken, curried goat and oxtail. Many African and Caribbean-based arts and crafts were available as well. The celebration spilled over into the side streets, and the sounds of revelry could be heard late into the night.
