NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — Brooklyn is getting ready for a colorful celebration filled with music, costumes and plenty of Caribbean pride.

Young performers take center stage on Saturday for Brooklyn’s Junior Carnival Parade and YouthFest.


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Young masqueraders will gather at St. John’s Place and Kingston Avenue before stepping off at 9 a.m. to head down Eastern Parkway to Grand Army Plaza, where they will end at the Brooklyn Museum.

Families, friends, and community members will line the route to cheer on children in colorful costumes inspired by islands across the Caribbean.

It is a chance for young people to learn the traditions, music, movement and pageantry that have made this celebration such an important part of Brooklyn’s cultural calendar.

And it also builds excitement for the main event, the West Indian American Day Parade, coming up Monday.


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When the youth parade reaches the Brooklyn Museum area, the celebration will continue with food vendors, music, and activities for families. Then at night, the attention turns to the steel pan.

New York Panorama is the city’s annual steel pan competition that happens behind the Brooklyn Museum.

Gates open at 6 p.m. with the competition beginning at 7 p.m., when steel bands will perform for judges.

Organizers say the weekend is about more than a parade, it is about passing Caribbean culture from one generation to the next.


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“Expect all of our youth to be on the parkway, parading their costumes and their wonderful, wonderful Caribbean cultural garments,” said Rhea Smith, an organizer of the Junior Carnival. “This is not a late-night party. It is a wonderful, wonderful presentation of Caribbean culture with pride. bring your flags, wear your rags, bring your costumes, and more importantly, bring your energy.”

The big parade will be Monday, and if you’re not able to be there you can head to PIX 11 News for live coverage.