Brooklyn to host first Trinidad and Tobago Independence Day Parade
Key Points(5)
- Brooklyn will host its first Trinidad and Tobago Independence Day Parade on Sunday, Aug.
- 30, bringing a celebration of the twin-island nation’s culture to Flatbush Avenue on the eve of its 64th anniversary of independence.
- Presented by J’Ouvert International for Arts and Culture and sponsored by Jujuterry, the inaugural parade and picnic will feature steelpan performances, food, music and family activities under the theme “Our Culture.
- Our Freedom.” According to organizers, the parade will begin at 2 p.m.
- at Church and Flatbush avenues and make its way toward Prospect Park, with participants encouraged to celebrate in Trinidad and Tobago’s national colors of red, white and black.
Brooklyn will host its first Trinidad and Tobago Independence Day Parade on Sunday, Aug. 30, bringing a celebration of the twin-island nation’s culture to Flatbush Avenue on the eve of its 64th anniversary of independence.
Presented by J’Ouvert International for Arts and Culture and sponsored by Jujuterry, the inaugural parade and picnic will feature steelpan performances, food, music and family activities under the theme “Our Culture. Our People. Our Freedom.”
According to organizers, the parade will begin at 2 p.m. at Church and Flatbush avenues and make its way toward Prospect Park, with participants encouraged to celebrate in Trinidad and Tobago’s national colors of red, white and black.
The event comes just weeks after Brooklyn hosted its inaugural Jamaican Day Parade in the same general corridor. That celebration brought Jamaicans and friends of the island together in the borough’s Little Caribbean neighborhood to mark Jamaica’s 64th anniversary of independence.
Brooklyn is home to a large Caribbean diaspora, with neighborhoods along and around Flatbush Avenue serving as an important cultural and commercial hub for immigrants and their descendants from across the region.
Sunday’s celebration comes one day before Trinidad and Tobago marks 64 years since gaining independence from Britain on Aug. 31, 1962.
The country’s journey toward independence followed decades of political and social change, including the labor uprisings of 1937 and subsequent moves toward greater political representation and self-government.
Trinidad and Tobago later joined the West Indies Federation, which was established in 1958 as an attempt to create a political union among several British Caribbean colonies. The federation collapsed after Jamaica voted to withdraw in 1961.
Trinidad and Tobago subsequently moved toward independence on its own, becoming a sovereign nation under Prime Minister Eric Williams in 1962. It remained a constitutional monarchy until 1976, when it became a republic.
While Brooklyn hosts its inaugural celebration, Trinidad and Tobago will continue its own longstanding Independence Day traditions at home.
The annual Independence Day Parade at Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain is among the major events commemorating the anniversary, combining military ceremony with displays of national pride and culture.
Brooklyn’s newest parade also adds to a busy season of Caribbean cultural celebrations in New York City, leading into the annual West Indian American Day Carnival festivities surrounding Labor Day.
