Aside from my curmudgeonly husband, I have never met anyone who doesn't love a parade. And in NYC, we have plenty of processions choose from. During the warmer months, there are parades practically every week celebrating a wide variety of cultures and causes, and all of them are FREE.

While it's always cool to watch the colorful costumes, floats and performers pass by, there are certain annual parades that are particularly great for families. These processions are either exceptionally vibrant like Chinatown's Lunar New Year Parade or the Three Kings Day Parade, or invite costumed kids to get in on the action (no pre-registration required) like the Earth Celebrations: Hudson River Pageant and a variety of small Halloween Parades that are much less intense than the big one in Greenwich Village.

Of the parades we're highlighting, I've been to five of them personally with my daughter (some we attend every year). The others all come highly recommended by families I know and are on my bucket list. This year, I'm putting all of them in my calendar in the hope that we can do them all!

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