PHOTOS: J'Ouvert and the West Indian Day Parade return after two-year COVID hiatus
Sept. 5, 2022, 8:46 p.m.
Revelers welcomed the return of J'Ouvet and the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn on Labor Day — the first since 2019.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both J’Ouvert and the West Indian Day Parade returned to Brooklyn on Monday. The events are the local iteration of Carnival, which is celebrated in similar ways throughout the Caribbean.
Brooklyn-based, Antiguan-born photographer Rashida Zagon captured the return of the festivities for Gothamist.
Steel pan players at J'Ouvert in Brooklyn. The early-morning celebration of Carnival returned on September 5, after a two-year hiatus.
Revelers welcomed the return of in-person celebrations.
“It gives you a full memory of being back in your homeland,” said Rochelle Brown at J’Ouvert in Brooklyn. Brown is originally from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “Each Caribbean island has Carnival. And being away from your homeland, and getting this one opportunity — this one to celebrate, hang with friends, and people you don’t even know. It’s all about the fun day. It’s all about the celebration.”
J'Ouvert participants in costume at the Brooklyn celebration.
A J'Ouvert goer leans on a NYPD vehicle.
Revelers dance at Brooklyn J'Ouvert
A West Indian Day Parade participant takes a rest on beside the Eastern Parkway procession.
