Latin Festivals in NYC include parades, street fairs, holidays, independence days, national days, and faith days. Being Latin, we have a lot to celebrate, and like to celebrate a lot!
Latin Festivals in NYC News
Celebrate Italian Republic Day!
Friday, June 2, 2023
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Bronx Week 2023 Climaxes with the Bronx Week Parade, Food and Arts Festival and Concert
Bronx Week includes a silent disco, skate party, Bronx Walk of Fame induction, parade, food and arts festival, and a concert.
THE BRONX
May 12-21, 2023
🇺🇸 🇩🇴 🇵🇷
Loisaida Festival 2023 Kicks Off Summer in Alphabet City
Alphabet City starts summer with a family street party.
AVENUE C
Loisaida, East Village/Lower East Side
Sunday, May 28, 2023
🇧🇷 🇪🇨 🇯🇲 🇱🇧 🇵🇷 🇪🇸
Continue Reading Loisaida Festival 2023 Kicks Off Summer in Alphabet City
152nd Street Festival 2023 is Basically a Bronx Fiesta Patronales or Taíno Areíto
A Puerto Rican family street fair of live music, dancing, food, artisanal crafts, and activities for little Boricuas. There will be bomba and plena for sure!
LONGWOOD, THE BRONX
Memorial Day Weekend
Saturday, May 27, 2023
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Continue Reading 152nd Street Festival 2023 is Basically a Bronx Fiesta Patronales or Taíno Areíto
Watch Neil Tyson’s Manhattanhenge 2023 Solar Alignment
The setting sun lines up with the Manhattan street grid. Best viewing is on wide cross streets at 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, 79th St.
FULL SUN: Tuesday, May 29, 2023
HALF SUN: Wednesday, May 30, 2023
Continue Reading Watch Neil Tyson’s Manhattanhenge 2023 Solar Alignment
Dance Parade NYC 2023 DanceFest Gets over 10,000 New Yorkers Dancing in the Streets
DANCE PARADE
Chelsea, Greenwich Village, East Village
African, Afrobeat, Afro-Cuban, Bhangra, Bollywood, Bomba, Break Dancing, Caporales, Carnival, Dancehall, Flamenco, Folkloric, Hip-Hop, House, Jazz, Latin, Majorette, Mexican, Moko Jumbies, Reggae, Salay, Salsa, Samba, Soca, Street, Tammurriata, Tap, Tarrantella, Tinkus, and more. 🇧🇴 🇧🇷 🇨🇺 🇨🇴 🇩🇴 🇮🇹 🇯🇲 🇲🇽 🇳🇬 🇵🇪 🇵🇷 🇪🇸 🇹🇹
DANCEFEST Tompkins Square Park
🇧🇴 🇨🇺 🇲🇽 🇵🇷 🇪🇸
Saturday, May 20, 2023
Continue Reading Dance Parade NYC 2023 DanceFest Gets over 10,000 New Yorkers Dancing in the Streets
Happy Mother’s Day NYC 2023!
Sunday, May 14, 2023
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Latin Festivals
The dates of Carnival, Diwali, Easter, Hanukkah, Lunar New Year, and Ramadan depend on astronomical cycles.
- Lunar New Year 2024 is February 10, 2024.
- Carnival Tuesday 2024 is February 13, 2024.
- Ramadan 2024 starts on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
- Easter 2024 is Sunday, March 31, 2024.
- Diwali 2023 starts Sunday, November 12, 2023,
- Hanukkah 2023 starts Friday, December 15, 2023.
January Latin Festivals
New Year’s Day is January 1. 🇮🇹
Kwanzaa, the African American holiday celebration ends with a focus on “Imani” (faith) on January 1. 🇺🇸
Haitian Independence Day, one of the world’s greatest humanitarian achievements, is January 1, 1804. 🇭🇹
The Emancipation Proclamation says “all persons…shall henceforward shall be free” of January 1, 1863. 🇺🇸
Letra del año (Letter of the Year) is a Cuban Yoruba forecast of the year. 🇨🇺
Sudanese Independence Day is January 1, 1956. 🇸🇩
The Solemnity of Mary honors mothers and children on January 1. 🇮🇹
Three Kings Day, the Hispanic gift-giving day and end of Christmas Season, is January 6! 🇵🇷🇪🇸
Elegúa, the Yoruba orisha of the crossroads, has his Cuban feast day on January 6. ¡Aché! 🇨🇺
Las Octavitas, the octave (8-day celebration) of Three Kings Day, celebrated in Puerto Rico, January 7-14. 🇵🇷
Martin Luther King’s Birthday is January 15. 🇺🇸
Martin Luther King Day U.S. holiday is Monday, January 16, 2023 (third Monday). 🇺🇸
Celebrate the Feast of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, patron saint of the Dominican Republic, on Saturday, January 21, 2023. 🇩🇴
New York State celebrates Dominican Heritage Month from Saturday, January 21 – February 27. 🇩🇴
Celebrate Lunar New Year 2023, the Asian spring festival, on Sunday, January 22, 2023. 🇨🇳🇰🇭🇰🇷🇰🇵🇯🇵🇲🇳🇵🇭🇸🇬🇹🇼🇹🇭🇺🇸
The Lunar New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival 2023 is a firecracker lighting ceremony with Chinese dance, culture, and food; at Sara D. Roosevelt Park at Grand St, in the Lower East Side / Manhattan Chinatown; on Sunday, January 22, 2023 from 11am – 3:30pm. FREE! 🇨🇳🇰🇭🇰🇷🇰🇵🇯🇵🇲🇳🇵🇭🇸🇬🇹🇼🇹🇭🇺🇸
Celebrate India Republic Day, January 26, 1950. (Indians are Latin in the Caribbean.) 🇮🇳
Never forget the UN’s Holocaust Remembrance Day when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated by Soviet troops and the world could no longer deny the Holocaust (Shoah), on January 27, 1945. ✡️
February Latin Festivals
February is Black History Month. 🇺🇸
Celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Candelaria, patron saint of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain and the African Diaspora on Thursday, February 2, 2023. 🇪🇸
Celebrate Maman Brigitte, the Haitian Loa of death and life, on Thursday, February 2, 2023. 🇭🇹
Celebrate Grenada Independence Day, February 7, 1974. 🇬🇩
Celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the healing Marian apparition, on Saturday, February 11, 2023. 🇫🇷
The 25th Lunar New Year Parade NYC 2023 has dragons dancing through Manhattan Chinatown to the Lower East Side on Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 1pm. FREE! 🇨🇳🇰🇭🇰🇷🇰🇵🇯🇵🇲🇳🇵🇭🇸🇬🇹🇼🇹🇭🇺🇸
Celebrate Galentines Day on Monday, February 13, 2023! You have everything you need, right inside your chest.
Celebrate Valentines Day, and the Roman saints conflated with romantic love, on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. 🇮🇹
Celebrate Las Comadres (Thursday before Carnival Tuesday), a women’s Carnival gathering in Asturia, Spain; Cochabamba & Tarija, Bolivia; and Arequipa, Peru. 🇪🇸🇧🇴🇵🇪
Celebrate Presidents Day (George Washington & Abraham Lincoln) on Monday, February 20, 2023. 🇺🇸
Celebrate Carnival (Carnival Tuesday/Mardi Gras) on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
Celebrate Saint Lucian Independence Day on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. 🇱🇨
Celebrate National Margarita Day on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. 🇲🇽
Celebrate Dominican Independence Day, February 27, 1844. ¡Quisqueya! 🇩🇴
March Latin Festivals
March is Women’s History Month. 🇺🇸
St Patrick’s Day is Friday, March 17, 2023. 🇮🇪
Spring Equinox is Monday, March 20, 2023.
April Latin Festivals
Holy Week 2023 is Monday-Saturday, April 3-8, 2023 (varies). 🇮🇹
Passover 2023 is Wednesday-Thursday, April 5-13, 2023 (varies). ✡️
Maundy Thursday is April 6, 2023 (varies). 🇮🇹
Good Friday is April 7, 2023 (varies). 🇮🇹
Easter Sunday is April 9, 2023 (varies). 🇮🇹
May Latin Festivals
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. 🇺🇸
International Workers Day is May 1.
Cinco de Mayo is May 5. 🇲🇽
Mother’s Day 2023 in the USA is Sunday, May 14 (2nd Sunday).
George Floyd Day is May 25. 🇺🇸
Memorial Day 2023 U.S. holiday is Monday, May 29 (last Monday). 🇺🇸
June Latin Festivals
June is Pride Month. 🏳️🌈
Father’s Day is Sunday, June 18, 2023.
Juneteenth celebrates the legal end of human slavery in the United States on Monday, June 19, 2023. 🇺🇸
Northern Summer Solstice is Wednesday, June 21, 2023.
July Latin Festivals
US Independence Day 2023 is Tuesday, July 4, 2023 (U.S. holiday). 🇺🇸
August Latin Festivals
Ecuadorian Independence Day is August 10. 🇪🇨
Indian Independence Day is August 15. 🇮🇳
Dominican Restoration Day is August 16. 🇩🇴
Uruguayan Independence Day is Friday, August 25, 2023. 🇺🇾
September Latin Festivals
Labor Day is Monday, September 4, 2023. 🇺🇸
Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 – October 15. 🇺🇸
Northern Fall Equinox is Saturday, September 23, 2023.
Broadway Musicals Day is Friday, September 29, 2023.
The Feast of Archangel Michael (Michaelmas) is Friday, September 29, 2023! 🇮🇹
Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival of booths, is at sundown for one week from Friday, September 29 to Friday, October 6, 2023. ✡️
October Latin Festivals
International Coffee Day celebrates the beloved Ethiopian drink on Sunday, October 1, 2023. 🇪🇹
Indigenous Peoples Day celebrates Native Americans on Monday, October 9, 2023. 🇺🇸
Italian Heritage Day (formerly Columbus Day) is Monday, October 9, 2022. 🇮🇹
The 21st Open House New York 2023 is a weekend of open houses and tours at almost 300 buildings and infrastructure all over New York City, Friday-Sunday, October 20-23, 2023. Free.
[To be confirmed]
The 33rd Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, on Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 1pm (Registration 12pm). FREE.
Halloween, an American celebration of Samhain (Celtic end of summer, end of harvest and new year), is Tuesday, October 31, 2023. 🇺🇸
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican family celebration of life over three days, Tuesday-Thursday, October 31 – November 2, 2023. 🇲🇽
November Latin Festivals
November is:
- Puerto Rican Heritage Month. 🇵🇷
- American Indian Heritage Month. 🇺🇸
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the Mexican family celebration of life, is Thursday, November 2, 2023. 🇲🇽
Veterans Day is Saturday, November 11, 2023. The bank holiday is Friday, November 10, 2023. 🇺🇸
Diwali, the West Indian and South Asian festival of lights, and Hindu New Year, Sunday-Thursday, November 12-16, 2023. The peak is November 15. (Indians are Latin through the Caribbean.) 🇮🇳🇹🇹
Moroccan Independence Day is November 18. 🇲🇦
Thanksgiving Day, the U.S. harvest festival and celebration of family, is Thursday, November 23, 2023. 🇺🇸
Native American Heritage Day is Friday, November 24, 2023. 🇺🇸
December Latin Festivals
Día de las Velitas, the Colombian festival of lights in anticipation of the church’s acceptance of the Immaculate Conception, is Thursday, December 7, 2023. 🇨🇴
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception marking the church’s acceptance of the divinity and equality of women, is Friday, December 8, 2023. 🇮🇹
International Tango Day is Carlos Gardel’s birthday on Monday, December 11, 2023. 🇦🇷🇫🇷🇺🇾
Las Mañanitas a nuestra Virgen de Guadalupe, Guadalupe’s traditional birthday eve celebration, is Monday, December 11, 2023. 🇲🇽
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico and icon of our mixed Latin identity, is Tuesday, December 12, 2023. 🇲🇽
The Feast of Babalú-Ayé, Cuban Yoruba orisha of sickness and healing, is Sunday, December 17, 2023. 🇨🇺
National Sangria Day celebrates the Iberian summer punch on Wednesday, December 20, 2023. 🇵🇹🇪🇸
Northern Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, and ancient root of the northern winter holidays, is Thursday, December 21, 2023.
The Feast of Huitzilopochtli honors the supreme Aztec god on Thursday, December 21, 2023. 🇲🇽
Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, is Sunday, December 18 – Monday, December 26, 2023. 🕎
Christmas Eve is Sunday, December 24, 2023. 🇮🇹
Christmas, the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ, is Monday, December 25, 2023. 🇮🇹
Kwanzaa, the African American holiday tradition, is Tuesday, December 27, 2022 – Sunday, January 1, 2023. 🇺🇸
New Year’s Eve is Sunday, December 31, 2023. 🇮🇹
Celebrate Watch Night, the African American tradition of spending New Year’s Eve in church, waiting for the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, on Sunday, December 31, 2023.
Latin Festivals Bring Communities Together
In traditional cultures, festivals are important community events. In the Americas we are a mix of much of the world, so we have a lot to celebrate.
Many festivals have a religious origin. All religions seek to make sense of the miracle of life that we all share. We are often taught to see our differences, when in fact our similarities are far more striking. Religious tolerance is an essential part of being a New Yorker.
We don’t represent any religion
We write about faith in the hope that sharing traditions leads to the discovery of our common humanity. Whatever way makes sense to you, may you and your family be blessed.
In the northern hemisphere, Winter Solstice is the ancient root of the December and January holidays. Most cultures celebrate their chief deity on the Winter Solstice. The global dominance of Christmas celebrations blocks other traditions from celebrating a time when we should all be celebrating the cycles of Mother Earth together.
Christmas and Carnival are the world’s most popular Latin festivals. Both have Italian origins, but evolved into something unique in the Americas. We also celebrate Indigenous, African Diaspora, and Asian festivals.
