New York City's West Indian-American Day celebrations were founded by the Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee, a group that began hosting street festivals in Harlem in the 1940s. In the late 1960s, the festivities were moved to Brooklyn, and the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association was formed.
Today the annual parade gives revelers a chance to celebrate their Caribbean culture. Both participants and parade-goers proudly display their national pride, and the flags of an assortment of island nations fly high throughout the day.