Ecuadorian Parade and Festival

The Ecuadorian Parade and Festival has taken place in Queens since 1984.

http://www.citylore.org/cl_cel-aug.html
Ecuadorian Parade and Festival
Queens
Early-mid August, daylong
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

The festival mix American and Ecuadorian traditions. Hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorian-Americans attend the events, where folkloric dance and regional foods illustrate the richly diverse traditions of the mountain, coastal, and Amazonian areas of Ecuador. Salsa, Charango, and Cumbia music is heard throughout.

For more information: Comite Civico Ecuadoriano, 718-457-0808.
last update: 5/2004

17 May 1987, Newsday, magazine, pg. 18:
Aug. 2
Ecuadorian Festival, Flushing Meadow Park, Queens. 2 p.m.

13 June 1993, New York Times, Summer Times Supplement, pg. 14:
Aug. 8
ECUADORIAN FESTIVAL, Flushing Meadow Park, Corona, Queens. 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sponsored by the Ecuadorian Civic Committee Inc.

4 August 1997, Newsday, pg. A19:
Newsday Photos by Jessica Brandi Lifland
Ecuadoran Food, Culture Celebrated
1) Seven-year-old Alex Penaloza of Corona, above, gets ready for the Ecuadorian Day Festival at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens by tying a ribbon with the country's colors around his head.
2) At right, Teresa Crespo fixes Equadorian potato treats in her traveling food truck.

3 August 1998, Newsday, "Parade Celebrates Ecuador's Culture" by Bryan Virasami, pg. A20:
As he stood on 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights at the Ecuadorian parade yesterday enjoying the procession of live bands, beauty queens and other symbols of his native country, Washington Barahona was proud.

"We live in this country and when I hear the music, see all the people and the flags, I feel very good," said Barahona, 24, waving a flag on the sidewalk and sporting a soccer jersey with the Ecuadorian logo; one of thousands crowding the avenue between 70th and 90th Streets, cheering the live bands and colorful floats.

Hugo Maldonado, director of the Ecuadorian Civic Committee, said the celebration of the country's independence in New York has been growing since the first parade in 1984.

"Every year we have more people and more institutions and more floats represented," said Maldonado, who described the event as a day of unity for Ecuadorians in the tri-state area. Ecuador gained independence in 1809 from Spain.