Merengue Stars Lead This Year’s Dominican Day Parade In Midtown

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY – The 42nd annual Dominican Day Parade, a major celebration of all things Dominican, takes place in Midtown on Sunday, Aug. 11.

The parade marches up Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of Americas, from 37th Street to 55th Street, and will start at 1 p.m. Float formation begins at 9 a.m.

Dancing is guaranteed, and this year’s theme is “Merengue: Nuestro Ritmo - Our Rhythm.”

Appropriately, this year’s parade will be led by merengue stars Los Hermanos Rosario. Other parade honorees include actor Jochy Santos, rapper Bulin 47, business leaders Pedro Álvarez and Antonio Espaillat, and community activist Jacqueline Guilamo.

Roughly 2.4 million people of Dominican heritage live in the United States, and about one-third of them live in New York City. The Dominican population numbers well over 700,000 in the city, where Washington Heights is the epicenter of Dominican life.

The best way to get to the parade from the Heights? Take the subway.

If you’re unable to attend in person, ABC 7 plans to stream it live.

Are you involved with the parade? Got a story you’d like to share? Email michael.mcdowell@patch.com.