Rain Doesn’t Damper Spirits at the Hispanic Day Parade

Military Veterans proudly display Latino Flags

A morning of showers kept many revelers home and had the marchers on edge about marching in wet raw weather but after a minor delay, the 52nd annual Hispanic Day parade got started up the parade route on 5th Ave. from 45th to 65th Sts. Normally this parade draws over a million revelers with marchers coming from many parts of the US and Latin American countries. This is a display of culture and contribution of Latinos from over 19 countries have made to this great nation. Macys and the Daily News award the group with best representation with an prize for their costumes and performance. Although the crowds were not as large as in previous years, the marchers were having a fun time dancing their native and traditional dances. As usual the lead country is Spain as she is considered to be the Mother country of Latinos after the colonial conquest all throughout the Western hemisphere. There was an equal amount of representation of native Indians and of the African influence in Hispanic culture. Typically, this parade starts of alphabetically with Argentina and Bolivia kicking things off.

Parade Beauty Queens

Carnaval Costumer from Barranquilla Colombia

Panamanian Dancers

Although there was no tango dancing this year, the Argentinians did display their gaucho costumes while the Bolivians did have some high energy dancing with the Indian influenced tinkus getting things started. A group of cowboys from Chile showed of their costumes and dance moves. The Colombians showed off their native dances mostly cumbia. There was a Carnaval group from Colombia dressed up in comical costumes that ended up winning the big award for the event. Costa Rica and Dominican Republic had some traditional representations. Ecuador had some nice costumes and beauty queens. Two marching bands were in from El Salvador that were pretty good. One was a sharply dressed group called Banda El Carbonero from NY and the other was a group up from Maryland that also displayed a group of military veterans. Honduras had some colorful costumes and sent a soccer hero. Mexico usually some traditional dancers and the chinelos group but the rain kept them away this year. Nicaragua had some cute costumes as well but had seen better in years before.

Banda El Carbanero Having Fun

Uruguayan Candombe Drummers

Bolivian Tinkus in Full Force

Every year, the group from Panama sends many bands from their native land. It must be a great treat for many of the band members visiting for the first time. The first group was from the Soyuz School. They were very good. The next one was even better from the Banda Cristiana de Panama…Loved their outfits. There was a group from Paraguay showing off their traditional dances. Usually the dancers balance 3 bottles on their head but the wind gusts limited the bottle count to only one this year. There were a few Peruvian dancing groups but the best one had to be the traditional dancers. Uruaguay always sends their condombe conga drummers with their sexy dancers. Venezuela has been getting better in sending more groups and floats to represent their culture. Closing out the parade was more bands from Panama including the Colegio Felix Oliveras Contreras soon followed by the Banda San Miguel Arcangel with traditional dancers. Saving the best for last was the Banda Internacional Apacolipsis with their devilish red costumes..they were scorching hot. Even though the weather was not great for a parade day, the spirits were flying high and Latinos from every nation would be very proud.