Full disclosure: For the past four years it has been my honor to coordinate inviting a jazz band to play at the Easter Parade and to publicize the time and location of such performance to the NYC lindy hop community. What follows is three parts observations from my years at the parade, two parts grosgrain ribbon, one part shameless plug for this year’s event (it’s gonna be great!), and two dashes of Irving Berlin.
Every spring, I can count on three inevitable occurrences to mark the changing of the seasons:
To those who thought (as I did) that Manhattan’s Easter Parade was a tradition already dead when the nostalgic Judy Garland/Fred Astaire film released in 1948, I offer happy tidings: it is not. The Easter Parade tradition is very much alive. It is still possible to spend your Easter Sunday strolling glamorously on Fifth Avenue, arm in arm with some dapper, morning-suited gent or beautifully-frocked lady. Joyful revelers come out to fête the lighter days and warmer weather in high spirits and even higher fashion. And, of course, all parade passers-by love to stop and watch the dancers swinging happily to jazz music, provided this year by a band led by reed player extraordinaire, Dan Levinson (frequently featured in The Syncopated Times).
The history of the Easter Parade is not well documented, probably because it seems to have come about informally.
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