On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, the photographers will snap us
And you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet
And of the guy, I’m taking to the Easter Parade
—from “Easter Parade” by Irving Berlin (1888-1989)

Well in advance, this visiting Wisconsin family planned their Easter bonnets to reflect their home state’s cheese-making tradition.

Everyone is a photographer today; and if you are ‘snapped’ you will not be seen in the rotogravure; but rather at someone’s Facebook page, blog or both, as Walk About New York does.

Balloon hats were a last-minute, fun Easter bonnet solution; if you needed one. A father/son team was conveniently twisting balloons into hear gear free-of-charge on the Fifth Avenue Parade route.

In 1933 Irving Berlin wrote “Easter Parade,” for a Broadway revue titled “As Thousands Cheer.” Berlin recycled the music from 1917 with new lyrics. The 1948 film “Easter Parade,” a vehicle for Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, was built around the song.

This man’s hat gives new meaning to the phrase, “cock of the walk.”

New York’s Easter Parade steps off at 10 o’clock of Easter Sunday. Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic between 49th and 57th Streets until late in the afternoon. No longer a display of new Easter finery, as it had been from the 1870s through the 1950s, the 21st-century version of the parade has become an opportunity to display your creativity and have some fun! Enjoy your promenade up Fifth Avenue with Walk About New York’s view of the Easter Parade.

This mother/daughter duo used multiple resources—fake flowers, plastic eggs, baskets, signage—to create their Easter bonnets.

Vintage clothing—or at least a vintage clothing look—is a popular fashion statement with some couples at the Easter Parade.

This young woman, perched atop a safety barricade, adjusts her Easter bonnet, which is made up of multiple artificial peonies.

A birdcage with an artificial but singing bird was pressed into service as a hat for one Parade-goer; but only real flowers and leaves could be used to decorate the other’s yellow straw hat.

Butterflies flit about this man’s top hat while a chick roosts on his companion’s nesting hat, as others sprout from her lapels.

This young lady, truly elegant in a vintage veiled hat well coordinated with her dress, stands out from St. Patrick’s bright white marble.

Top hat show stoppers with feathers and beading, eggs and flowers.

This friendly (as many Parade-goers are) mother and daughter, visiting from Genoa, Italy, were very cute in les petites chapeaux.

“My mom used to say that Greek Easter was later because then you get stuff cheaper.”
—Amy Sedaris (1961–present)

Feathers became flower hats created by the woman on the left.

Flowered top hats, flower-patterned ties, and flowers sprouting from their chest pockets gave these men the look of a walking garden!

The red-feathered hat stands apart from the otherwise well-coordinated blue-and-white ensembles of the other women.

Standing outside of Cartier’s, the jewelry store, a uniquely Chinese hat and outfit added an exotic touch to the Easter Parade.

The blue-bird printed suit had its own matching hat. His companion was not as well coordinated, but no less attention-getting.

Affecting an 18th-century look with some 21st-century items, the woman’s escort looks very much like fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.

These dandies regularly attend the Easter Parade. Their costumes are a consistently tasteful and creative celebration of spring.

This white-suited woman wore the most disturbing “bonnet.” The cold-looking, multi-faced (with one appearing as a real human one), crystal-studded helmet rotated side-to-side as she stood still.

It was a mostly cloudy day; but some Parade-goers, including these bowler-hatted and top-hatted men, wore shades. Were they hiding?

This man practices the maxim, ‘Life is more fun when you share.’ He brought two spiky white “bonnets.” He kept his on his head; but he offered the other to anyone who was game enough to wear his spare and pose with him, as this lollipop-licking Parade-goer did.

Wearing but a simple fedora and a good-looking vintage outfit this young man leaned against La Maison Française, 610 Fifth Avenue, whose public art is part of our Art of Rockefeller Center Walking Tour.

Your tourist guide Phil got into the spirit of the day with the Easter Bunny; who looks very much like Bugs Bunny! Don’t you think so?

Added to Divine protection outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral members of the New York Police Department marshaled their forces.

Members of the NYPD, wearing protective gear with their weapons drawn, stood at the three doors to the Cathedral of St. Patrick.

The multi-cultural, multi-national nature of New York City is reflected in the Easter Parade-goers and the hats that they choose to wear.

A simple white felt hat trimmed with a white ribbon and a few white feathers were all that was needed for this handsome young man. Anything more would have been gilding the lily!

These two gentlemen, wearing their grassy lawn hats with not-so-hidden eggs, butterflies and flowers, pose with two siblings.

Again, I  joined in the fun with a stylishly dressed Parade-goer.

Matching hats helped these gentlemen stand out from the large crowd.

This Parade-goer looked fierce in his fancy festive finery.

The artificial leaves looked like the donkey ears on Bottom, a character from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream.

This sparkly bearded man’s triangular-shaped hat served as the base for fabulous feathers, flowers and fauna flowing forth to fascinate.

Peacock feathers on a black felt hat meet peacock feathers on a yellow straw hat as I pose with another Parade-goer.

This young man, wearing a self-made, multi-layered paper hat, was making a facetime phone call to his partner and their cat.

When a group coordinates its hats good fun follows them!

Take a look at our coverage of several past Easter Parades.
New York’s Easter Parade, 2014
New York’s Easter Parade 2015
New York’s Easter Parade 2016
New York’s Easter Parade 2017

Keep in mind that our Art of Rockefeller Center Walking Tour covers some the same ground that the Easter Parade does. Take the Tour; Know More! #EasterParade #EasterSunday #WalkAboutNY

ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT, EXCEPT CREDITED QUOTES, © THE AUTHOR 2018