Easter parade

The Easter parade is an American cultural event consisting of a promenade on Easter Sunday. Typically, it is an informal and unorganized event. The parade is most closely associated with Fifth Avenue in New York City, but smaller parades are often held in other cities. Persons participating in an Easter parade traditionally dress in fine new clothing, particularly ladies' hats, and strive to show it off to others. Starting as a spontaneous event in the 1870's, the New York parade became increasingly popular into the mid-twentieth century—in 1947, it was estimated to draw over a million persons. By 2000 its popularity had declined significantly, drawing only 30,000 people in 2008.

History in New York

From the 1880's through the 1950's, New York's Easter parade was one of the main cultural expressions of Easter in the United States. It was one of the fundamental ways that Easter was identified and celebrated.

Religious influences

The seeds of the parade were sown in New York's highly ornamented churches—Gothic buildings such as Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and St. Thomas' Episcopal Church. In the mid-nineteenth century, these churches began decorating their sanctuaries with Easter flowers. These displays soon became defining examples of style, taste, abundance, and novelty. Those who attended the churches began to incorporate these values into their own dress. In 1873, a newspaper report about Easter at Christ Church said "More than half the congregation were ladies, who displayed all the gorgeous and marvelous articles of dress,... and the appearance of the body of the church thus vied in effect and magnificence with the pleasant and tasteful array of flowers which decorated the chancel."