The New York Columbus Day Parade is the world’s largest celebration of Italian-American culture.
Over a million spectators watch over 35,000 people from over 100 organizations march up Fifth Avenue.
The parade was started in 1929 by Generoso Pope. Today it is organized by the Columbus Citizens Foundation.
The Columbus Day Parade brings together New York City’s Italian-American community to show its pride, meet with politicians, and raise money for scholarships for promising Italian-American students. The parade currently provides over 700 scholarships.
Spaniards also celebrate because Columbus was working for the Spanish crown when he rediscovered the Americas for the Europeans.
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Columbus Day 2017 Celebration
The parade is part of a broader celebration.
Scholarship Applications
Scholarship applications are due February 17.
Scholarship applications for the Columbus Guarini Scholarship for study abroad at the John Cabot University in Rome are due March 15.
Gala Dinner
The 2017 Jo DiMaggio Award Dinner is at The Plaza Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 7pm. The black-tie Gala honors Major League Baseball legend Bobby Valentine.
Columbus Day Mass
The annual Columbus Day Mass is at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown East on Columbus Day, Monday, October 9, 2017 at 9:30am.
Tickets are required until 9:15am when the doors are opened until the cathedral is full.
Columbus Circle Wreath Laying
Each year the National Council of Columbian Associations in Civil Service and the Columbus Citizens Foundation lay a wreath at the Columbus Monument in Columbus Circle in Midtown.
Columbus Day Parade 2017 Time and Place
The 2017 Columbus Day Parade marches up Fifth Avenue from 47th St to 72nd St on Columbus Day, Monday, October 9, 2017 from 11am to 3pm.
Red carpet performances take place on Fifth Avenue between 67th and 69th Streets.
The parade is broadcast live on WABC-TV (7) from 12 noon to 3pm.
Columbus Day Parade 2017 Honorees
This year’s theme is “A Celebration of Italian-American Authors.”
Grand Marshal
2017 Grand Marshal Leonard Riggio, Founder and Chairman of Barnes & Noble, is inviting Italian-American authors to march with him in the parade.
Riggio built Barnes & Noble from a single college bookstore in 1965 into the company we know today. Riggio also founded Barnes & Noble College Booksellers and GameStop, the world’s biggest video game retailer.
Honorees
Dr. Laura L. Forese is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of New York-Presbyterian hospital.
Thomas Iovino is the founder of the Iovino Foundation, a public charity that works to create sustainable economic opportunities in developing countries around the world.
For more information, visit www.columbuscitizensfd.org