Bonnets

How does one spend Easter Sunday? We met up on 6th Avenue at 49th Street and walked across to 5th Avenue for the Annual Easter Bonnet Parade. The Easter bunny had been in the morning in the form of Margie ringing our doorbell and giving us some chocolate rabbits. The Easter Bonnet Parade unlike most New York City Parades, the Easter Parade is a less than organized event. From 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. the area along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets is closed to vehicular traffic, and folks wander the street admiring various Easter Bonnets and Easter outfits. The Parade has been “operating” since at least 1900. It doesn't have any floats or marching bands more a milling of people with or without cameras. Outfits range from elegant to outrageous. The parade is advertised as having everything “From outfits accented with live animals to civil war period costumes and the latest high fashions, there is a little bit of everything for the parade viewer”. We didn’t see the military but certainly saw people in their sartorial splendor and some in their highly fanciful and uncomfortable outfits.
It was a pleasant stroll up 5th Avenue (crowded but pleasant). People with hats or outfits tended to stand still and other made their way to them to see what they had assembled for their outfit. Some were sensible enough to stand in the intersections where there was some sunlight and it was a bit warmer. We spent quite a while just strolling along taking photos.