The annual Persian Parade marched down Madison Avenue on Sunday with a more somber tone than in years past, as organizers and attendees reflected on ongoing unrest in Iran.<\/p>\n
Music and costumes remained part of the celebration, but organizers said they intentionally struck a more serious mood for the event, which has traditionally highlighted Iranian culture and heritage.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The Persian Parade returned to Madison Avenue with a more serious tone this year
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Organizers dedicated the event to people in Iran amid ongoing unrest
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Protesters along the route called for regime change as the parade emphasized unity and remembrance<\/p>\n
\u201cWe dedicated this parade to the brave men and women of Iran. They\u2019re in our thoughts, our prayers. This parade was done with a heavy heart,\u201d said Betty Emamian, the parade\u2019s director of communications. \u201cWe were very sensitive how we did the parade this year. We just wish for free Iran. That\u2019s our wish.\u201d<\/p>\n
First held in 2004, the Persian Parade has long served as a celebration of Iranian history, culture and identity. This year, however, many Iranian Americans in attendance said the ongoing conflict in Iran left them balancing pride with grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always important. It\u2019s the culture. We need to keep it alive for the next generation, for our kids, forever. But this year it\u2019s more important, being here, showing up for these people who gave their lives for the freedom of Iran,\u201d said Mona Aminzadeh, a paradegoer.<\/p>\n
Another attendee said the event served as a tribute to those impacted by the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey live in our hearts and we try to celebrate their life and we dedicate our life to make our country better and continue their way of living,\u201d the attendee said.<\/p>\n
The parade also drew protesters calling for regime change in Iran, with chants echoing along the route.<\/p>\n
Emamian said organizers aimed to strike a balance between honoring tradition and acknowledging the current moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was more a parade of solidarity, unity and remembrance,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was important to remember what\u2019s going on in Iran and be a voice for them, and also keep the tone of the parade appropriate with what\u2019s going on in Iran and be sensitive to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers said they hope the event highlights unity and peaceful expression, while advocating for a future in Iran defined by peace, prosperity and respect for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The annual Persian Parade marched down Madison Avenue on Sunday with a more somber tone than in years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2296,25,231,75,84,83,9,24,12,63,10387,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-203217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-app-human-interest","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-human-interest","11":"tag-manhattan","12":"tag-manhattan-headlines","13":"tag-manhattan-news","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-ron-lee","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}