Bronx Week Parade, 2024: Dynamic Music, Dance, Food & People
Was happy to be back in the borough where I was born and raised to attend the Bronx Week Parade which featured a Food and Arts Festival and a free concert on Mosholu Parkway (between Van Cortlandt and Bainbridge Avenues). Was also happy to have been granted a press pass by the good folks at the Bronx Borough President’s office so that I could roam freely with my Sony A7RV paired with the FE 24–105mm F4 G lens. And in the company of a very special lady (more on that later!)
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson and News 12 Anchor Noëlle Lilley served as the Bronx Week Parade co-hosts
Bronx Week dates back to the 1920s when it was called “Bronx Borough Day”(*) according to Bronx historian emeritus and professor of history Lloyd Ultan, 87. But when early affects of the Depression started to creep into the city, the Day was canceled and never celebrated again. That is until Ultan came along.
“I said, ‘I think we got to start an annual celebration of the Bronx to make people know the great things we have here,” Ultan told the Bronx Times of his meeting with then-Bronx Borough President Robert Abrams. “I said, ‘we used to have a Bronx Borough Day, so why don’t we have a Bronx Day’ and he took it and he ran with it.” That was back in 1971.
The celebrations were plentiful with VIPs, a fair at the Bronx Zoo, a parade on the Grand Concourse, a classical music concert at the Bronx High School of Science during the day and a rock concert at the Loew’s Paradise Theatre at night. After a day of busying events, Ultan told Abrams, “This was great, absolutely great, but next year, we’ll do it through a week, not in one day.” And thus, Bronx Week was born.
Now, Bronx Week is celebrated across 13 days and at the rate which events are being added each year.
Presented in conjunction with the Bronx Tourism Council and the Bronx Borough President’s Office, this year features added partnerships with Montefiore Einstein, J.P. Morgan Chase and dozens of sponsors dedicated to highlighting the borough and uplifting it from its tattered reputation.
“We are planting seeds for the next generation, we are saying yes when it comes to economic development, we’re saying yes when it comes to housing, yes when it comes to prosperity and jobs and career pathways,” said Gibson(*), wrapping up with this year’s Bronx Week motto. “Because guess what? We want more in ‘24.”
DID YOU KNOW?
If each borough were ranked as a city, the Bronx would rank as the ninth-most-populous city in the U.S. Moreover, with a population that is 54.8% Hispanic as of 2020, it is the only majority-Hispanic county in the Northeastern United States and the fourth-most-populous nationwide.
WHY “THE” BRONX?
People often wonder why the Bronx, alone of all New York’s boroughs, has “the” as part of its name. It all started in 1639 when a Scandinavian, Jonas Bronck, settled in a Dutch colonial province in New Netherland(*).
Bronck purchased from the local Native Americans some 500 acres of land on the east side of the Harlem River below the line of present-day East 150th Street. The area was then known as Ranaqua, or “the End Place,” as it was the southern terminus of an old trailway. Ranaqua soon became known as “Bronck’s Land,” and the Aquahung, or “River of High Places” that lay to its east was dubbed “Bronck’s River.”
“When he (Bronck) dies in 1643 at the age of 43, the only thing that remained that was named after him through the ages was Bronck’s River,” says Bronx borough historian Lloyd Ultan(*). And like with many names that can be difficult to say or write, the ‘ck’ was changed to an ‘x’ — and the stream of water that ran next to Jonas Bronck’s farm became the Bronx River.
But the present day borough went without a name for more than 200 years until New York City got the land from Westchester County. “They looked right smack in the middle of a map and there is the Bronx River, so they named it after the river, the borough of the Bronx, and that’s why it’s always called The Bronx and not just plain Bronx,” Ultan says.
The capitalization of the borough’s name is sometimes disputed. Generally, the definite article is lowercase in place names (“the Bronx”) except in some official references. However, some people and groups refer to the borough with a capital letter at all times, such as Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan and The Bronx County Historical Society.
The Parade
The Festival
After the parade, it was time for food and music, the latter kicked off by popular NYC DJ Ralphie Mercado, son of Latin music impresario Ralph Mercado
The Bronx is characterized by its music, its food, and most importantly, its colorful people
International Women in Reggae
The all-female reggae band invited festival guests to “lively up yourself” as they kicked off the afternoon concert
Luis Figueroa
Luis Figueroa is a two-time Latin GRAMMY® nominated Puerto Rican singer and songwriter
Lisette Melendez
Freestyle/Dance/Salsa/HipHop recording artist Lisette Melendez (best known for her 1991 Top 40 hit “Together Forever”)
Lil’ Mo
American singer and songwriter Lil’ Mo, best known for her 2001 single “Superwoman Pt. II”, featuring then-unknown rapper Fabolous, closed out the show and Bronx Week
In Good Company
Remember that “special lady” I mentioned waaaaaay back in the first paragraph? Well, meet my new ladyfriend Serena. Not only has she won over this guy’s heart but she’s also a remarkable photographer in her own right. She’s currently living in the Bronx (it’s a long story) as well as here in South Florida. And it was she that first contacted the Bronx Tourism Council and inquired about press passes (which they granted her and me). She made what was a wonderful day in the Bronx more wonderful-er. Check out her work on Instagram
These are just some of the photographs…
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Stay up to date with events in The Bronx by visiting the Bronx Tourism Council at www.ilovethebronx.com
