Easter parade

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Easter parade is an American cultural event consisting of a festive strolling

Easter processions or parades, often including special dress, have been part of Christian culture since its earliest beginnings. The Bible records two processions in the first Holy Week. The first was on Palm Sunday as Jesus was welcomed to Jerusalem by an adoring throng. The second took place as Jesus carried a cross to Calvary. These processions are often commemorated in Christian church services, and are seen as the earliest predecessors of the modern Easter parade.^[3]

During the Dark Ages, Christians in Eastern Europe would gather in a designated spot before Easter church services, then walk solemnly to the church. Sometimes the congregation would form another parade after the services, retracing their steps and singing songs of praise. These processions had two purposes—to demonstrate to churchgoers the unity of spirit found in their faith, and to reach out to nonbelievers in a highly visible manner. Even in those times, participants wore their finest attire to show respect for the occasion.

In the

Other parades have been held on important days during and close to Lent. An example can be found in today's parades on Mardi Gras. Beginning about 1782, German settlers in Pennsylvania held non-religious parades on Easter Monday, then widely celebrated as a holiday. The parades continued for over a century.^[4]

Easter finery

Having new clothes for Easter had deep roots in European customs.

Authorities attribute the introduction of elaborate Easter ceremonies, including gaudy dress and display of personal finery, to the

By the 1880s, the Easter parade had become a vast spectacle of fashion and religious observance, famous in New York and around the country. It was an after-church cultural event for the well-to-do—decked out in new and fashionable clothing, they would stroll from their own church to others to see the impressive flowers (and to be seen by their fellow strollers).[8] People from the poorer and middle classes would observe the parade to learn the latest trends in fashion.

By 1890, the annual procession held an important place on New York's calendar of festivities and had taken on its enduring designation as "the Easter parade".

As the parade and the holiday together became more important,

Not everyone was enthused about the display of wealth and beauty. Critics worried regularly over Easter extravagance and the "vaunting of personal possessions" that offended deep-seated American values of simplicity, frugality, and self-denial. In 1914, social critic

In 1929 Edward Bernays decided to pay women to smoke their "torches of freedom" as they walked in the Easter Parade in New York. This was a shock because until that time, women were only permitted to smoke in certain places such as in the privacy of their own homes. He was very careful when picking women to march because, "while they should be good looking, they should not look too model-y"; and he hired his own photographers to make sure that good pictures were taken and then published around the world. Ruth Hale called for women to join in the march saying, "Women! Light another torch of freedom! Fight another sex taboo!"^[9]

Once the footage was released, the campaign was being talked about everywhere, and the women's walk was seen as a protest for equality and sparked discussion throughout the nation and is still known today. The targeting of women in such

In 1933, American songwriter Irving Berlin wrote the music for a revue on Broadway called As Thousands Cheer. It included his song "Easter Parade", which he had been working on for fifteen years, and in which he had finally captured the essence of the parade. Both the song and the revue were tremendously popular. The song became a standard, and fifteen years later was the basis for the film Easter Parade.^[11]

By the mid-20th century, the parade's religious aspects had faded, and it was mostly seen as a demonstration of American prosperity. 1946 saw a resurgence of stunts, pranks, and extravagant behavior. In 1947, the State Department's Voice of America did a radio broadcast of the Fifth Avenue parade to the Soviet Union, the idea being to show the economic inferiority of the Soviet system. In 1955, The Saturday Evening Post stated that New York's springtime pageant was only an incidental celebration of a religious holiday, and had become a reflection of the fact that, in America, a person was as good as the clothes and other goods he or she was able to buy. The parade itself had become an unstructured, boundless event, with no apparent beginning, ending, organization, or purpose. What had begun in the 1870s as a parade of refinement and religious display had become, to some critics, merely an ostentatious frolic.^[12]

Today, New Yorkers celebrate Easter parade and bonnet festival with great enthusiasm. Celebrations are enjoyed both by families wearing Sunday best and people and pets in outlandish costumes, often paying homage to the parade's former glory by, to cite a typical example, wearing garish hats with live birds in flower-adorned cages. New Yorkers of all ages and types participate and it's popular with the festive set.^[13] It takes place on Fifth Avenue, around 49th to 57th Streets, in Manhattan from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.^[14] on Easter Sunday. Anyone may participate, and dressing up is highly encouraged. One of the most popular accessories are bonnets of all styles and shapes.^[15]

Gallery

• 
  The parade on 5th avenue, 1897. The Croton Reservoir is visible.
• 
  Fifth Avenue, 1900
• 
  1908
• 
  1910
• 
  1995
• 
  2007

Other venues

As New York's parade grew in prominence from the 1880s onward, other cities developed their own versions.

Richmond has hosted a parade along four blocks of Monument Avenue for over 50 years with 25,000 participants dressed in their Easter attire join it annually.^[16] The parade moves.

New Orleans hosts parades on Easter Sunday, including the French Quarter Easter Parade featuring classic attires, the Chris Owens Easter Parade with floats and marching bands, and the Gay Easter Parade celebrating LGBTQ culture in a kid-friendly atmosphere.^[17]

• Easter bonnet

References