New York City’s Fifth Avenue will be decked out in red, white and blue Sunday in honor of the 59th Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade. ¡Wepa!
Under the theme Un Pueblo, Muchas Voces (One Nation, Many Voices), the event will celebrate the beautiful and diverse culture shared by Puerto Ricans on the island and throughout the diaspora.
The first parade took place Sunday, April 13, 1958, with approximately 125,000 people in attendance, according to the New York Daily News. This year, more than 1.5 million spectators are expected to line the 35-block parade route as 100,000 more people march, dance and ride their way down Fifth Avenue, including this year’s parade king and queen, Carmelo Anthony and Rosario Dawson. If the parades of the past are any indication, this year’s event will be spectacular.
So get excited and join us as we take a nostalgic look back at Puerto Rican Day Parades of yesteryear in the photos below.
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Charles Payne/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Luz Valentin, 5, has the spirit as she waves American and Puerto Rican flags from the hood of a car in the 1960 Puerto Rican Day Parade. Some 150,000 people turned out to cheer the marchers and bands as they streamed up Fifth Avenue in the brilliant sunshine.
Charles Payne/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
16-year-old Carmen Juarge rides down Fifth Avenue in Cinderella’s carriage.
Dan Godfrey/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Three women in dazzling gowns “float” down the parade route.
Ed Clarity/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Proud spectators line Fifth Avenue and 66th Street.
Gene Kappock/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Children run out to greet Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and Bronx Borough President Herman Badillo.
Fred Morgan/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Two women don
pavas, traditionalstraw hats.
Fred Morgan/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Queen Ivelia Sisco (top) and her court wave at spectators.
A float makes its way down Fifth Avenue.
Mel Finkelstein/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Young women dance downFifth Avenue at the 1972 Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Young majorettes march down the streets of Manhattan.
William LaForce Jr./NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Actor Erik Estrada waves at revelers as he rides down the parade route.
Associated Press/G. Paul Burnett
Lolita Lebrn, one of four Puerto Rican nationalists pardoned in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, leads marchers in the 1980 Puerto Rican Day Parade.
A float carrying children and a statue of the Virgin Mary makes its waydown the street.
Spectators cheer as a reveler in
a vejigante costume marches by.
Misha Erwitt/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Spectators cheer and shout along the sidelines.
Susan Watts/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Young girls don traditional dresses and pavas.
Spectators proudly wave flags from behind barricades.
Tens of thousands of people crowd onto Fifth Avenue to take pride in their Caribbean heritage at the 40th Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade.
AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett
Music legend Tito Puente is escorted up New York’s Fifth Avenue during the 41st Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Bill Turnbull/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Actress Rosie Perez holds up a sign calling for peace for
Vieques as she rides in a convertible during the 2000 National Puerto Rican Day Parade.
A young boy rides down the parade route on his mini-motorcycle.
Traditional dancers perform during the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in2002.
A group of performerswarm up before joining the procession.
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
Dancers wearing traditional garb perform for millions of spectators.
Revelers cheer and wave Puerto Rican flagsas they watch the parade procession.
Marc Anthony served as the parade’s National Grand Marshal in 2006. He was joined by then-wife Jennifer Lopez and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Ricky Martin reigned as king at the 2007National Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Robert Sabo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Some 2 million spectators braved the hot, muggy weather to participate in the2008 event.
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div class=”listicle__slide-caption” js-image-caption”>Parade participants carry a large Puerto Rican flag as they march through the city.
