Korean Beauty
Every first Saturday of October the Korean community of the Tri-state area get together for a fine display of culture, tradition and lots of delicious food. In this the 33rd version of the Korean Parade and Festival in K-Town, there were plenty of marchers dressed in traditional costume and traditional music along the parade route on 6th Ave. from 38th to 27th Sts. In the shadows of Macys and Herald Square, busy shoppers could take a quick glance at the college student members of the Korean Cultural Outreach Network beat the drums in traditional costume. They were fun to watch and considering they were from different colleges in the tristate area, they had a good dance and drum routine displayed for the parade VIPs. Various floats rolled on by but the common theme in each one was for the children to participate and learn and preserve the Korean culture and tradition. The family is center to the Korean culture and having the children dressed up in traditional wear was a special treat for parade watchers.
Korean Cultural Outreach Network
Ridgefield HS Marching Band
Girl on the Korea Times Float
Of course a parade isn’t a parade without a marching band and this year two marching bands stood out. Mother Cabrini always wows the crowd with their high stepping and their trademark xylophone version of marching tunes. The show stopper had to be the high school marching band from the large Korean community of Ridgefield, NJ. They really played well. The martial arts have always been a part of most Asian communities and Tae Kwon Do schools brought out their best students to show off their style. A nice treat was to see the more senior POUAG group with their traditional Korean costume and instruments. Closing out the parade were the parade sponsors, The Korean Times float followed by some highly decorated bikers. Once they rolled on by I headed over to where the K-Town Festival was getting under way at 32nd St. between 5th and Broadway. The aroma of bbq meats and other delicious foods was drawing me in deeper to the crowd. Opting for some noodles with vegetables, I settled down by the stage and waited for the fun to start which didn’t take long. Dancers and singers entertained the crowd with their unique performances. All in all, it was a fun time and a great way to learn more of the Korean culture.
NYC Parade Life 