
08/28/2025
This Labor Day Saturday, August 30, 2025, marks 78 years of outdoor West Indian and Caribbean-style carnival in North America.
The first street West Indian carnival took place in Harlem on Labor Day, August 30, 1947. In the 1960s, Rufus Gorin moved the carnival to Brooklyn, organizing events on Labor Day in the Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant communities. Later, Carlos Lezama and his West Indian Carnival Association brought the parade to Eastern Parkway, with shows held at the Brooklyn Museum grounds.
It's worth noting that West Indian or Trinidadian-style carnival actually began in Harlem over 100 years ago, in the late 1890s. These early carnival events, held during the pre-Lenten season in the peak of winter, took place in basements, apartments, and ballrooms throughout Harlem.
EVERYBODY’S Magazine's latest edition features a colorful spread on carnival celebrations in New York, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, and Hartford. We invite you to visit our website to download the edition and learn more.