NEW YORK CITY – The 2024 West Indian American Day Parade begins Monday in New York City. Thousands of revelers will dance and march along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn in one of the world’s largest celebrations of Caribbean culture.

GO TO: LIST OF COUNTRIES | ROAD CLOSURES

Now in its 57th year, the annual Labor Day event transforms the borough’s Eastern Parkway into a kaleidoscope of feather-covered costumes and colorful flags as participants parade down the main street alongside towering floats with soca and reggae music blaring from speakers.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 5: Revelers take part in the annual West Indian Day parade in Brooklyn. The parade follows the Caribbean street carnival J’ouvert, which draws tens of thousands of costumed revelers. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Gett

The event has its roots in more traditional pre-Lenten Carnival celebrations that organizers say were started by a Trinidadian immigrant in Manhattan about a century ago. In the 1940s, the festivities were moved to the warmer season.

Here’s everything you need to know about the parade, including how to get there and information about road closures in the area.

Start of the West Indian Day Parade

The parade lasts from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Location of the West Indian Day Parade

The parade regularly draws huge crowds that line the nearly two-mile route from Crown Heights to the Brooklyn Museum.

What is the West Indian Day Parade NYC 2024?

The parade consists of a competition for the best masquerade costume.

Groups of parade-goers known as “Mas Bands” are judged according to the rules and regulations of Trinidad and Tobago, the home of Carnival.

According to organizers, over a million people are expected to take part in the parade and preparatory events.

The parade includes hundreds of magnificent costumes, dancers and music representing the various countries that make up the West Indies. The West Indies consists of 13 island nations and territories surrounded by the North Atlantic and the Caribbean.

• Anguilla
• Antigua Barbuda Montserrat
• Aruba
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• Bonaire
• British Virgin Islands
• Cuba
• Curacao
• Dominican Republic
• Dominican Republic
• Grenada
• Guadeloupe
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Martinique
• Puerto Rico
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Saint Martin
• The Bahamas
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• US Virgin Islands

Parking is available on-site in a lot behind the museum, off Washington Avenue.

Women prepare to march in the West Indian American Day Parade on Labor Day on September 4, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York City. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP) (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)

During regular service, take the 2/3 train to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum, a wheelchair accessible stop.

Transfer to 2/3 from 4th/5th (at Nevins Street) and B, D, Q, N, R and LIRR (at Atlantic Terminal-Barclays Center).

NYC subway map

Click HERE to view the MTA subway map.

• Bedford Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Empire Boulevard
• Buffalo Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
• Butler Place between Grand Army Plaza and Sterling Place
• East New York Avenue between Howard Avenue and Utica Avenue
• Eastern Parkway between Howard Avenue and Grand Army Plaza
• Empire Boulevard between Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue
• Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and Caton Avenue
• Grand Army Plaza (entire circle)
• Lincoln Place between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
• Nostrand Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Linden Boulevard
• Ocean Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Parkside Avenue
• Parkside Avenue between Park Circle and Flatbush Avenue
• Ralph Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
• Rochester Avenue between East New York Avenue and Sterling Place
• Rockaway Parkway between East New York Avenue and Rutland Road
• St. Johns Place between Underhill Avenue and Grand Army Plaza
• Washington Avenue between Sterling Place and Lincoln Road

The Associated Press contributed to this report.