The 29th annual Mexican Day Parade returns to Madison Avenue this Sunday, Sept. 17. The event is both a celebration of Mexico’s independence from Spain, which falls on Sept. 16 every year, and a showcase of cultural pride.
The parade, which has grown to span 23 city blocks since its inception, celebrates over 1 million Mexican Americans in the tristate area.
This year, the parade returns with a new organizer: MECENAS, a nonprofit organization started by Pedro Zamora, who owns entertainment venues across New York. MECENAS, which stands for Mexican Cultural Expressions National Society, works with local Latino communities to provide disaster relief both domestically and abroad. It’s also a Spanish word that roughly translates to “patron of the arts.”
Zamora says the parade is a cultural expression of Mexico’s history.
“I want [people] to know that Mexico is very rich in culture, folklore, and Mexico can give a lot of culture to the international community, not just for our nationals that are here, but to the world.”
Patricia Hernandez and the Comité Cívico Mexicano founded the parade’s first iteration, which took place in 1994 at 24th Street and 38th Avenue in Astoria, Queens and only spanned a block.
Hernandez worked year after year to put on the parade, and finally secured permits to move it to Manhattan permanently in 2003. After Zamora and MECENAS worked with Hernandez informally to produce the parade in 2022, the two signed an agreement to make the collaboration official this year.
“Mexican immigrants serve as essential workers… but we’re also neighbors, friends and contributors to the city,” said José Higuera-López, the director of CUNY’s Mexican Studies Institute. “This parade is an expression of that.”
Before the parade’s march down Madison Avenue, a Catholic mass will take place at 9 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.
Here’s more information about the day.
When is the parade?
It steps off at noon on Sunday, Sept….
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