Hispanic Day Parade 2022 — A Photo Story

Hispanic Day Parade 2022 on 5th Avenue.

All photos are courtesy of photographer, Avian Hall.

The Hispanic Day Parade NYC 2022 took place up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on Oct. 9, 2022. The annual event featured a progression of marchers from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries, often accompanied by each country’s unique flags, music and dancing. The annual parade seeks to celebrate Spanish and Latin American culture and functions as a gathering place in New York City for Hispanic people of all nationalities.

Marisol Silva Pilares, a lawyer of Peruvian descent, said that, though she had lots of work to do, she “felt like [she] couldn’t concentrate — [she] needed to be [there].” She says the parade is a place people can come to feel connected to their homeland.

Marisol was watching for her dance instructor, Cynthia Paniagua, who teaches classes in Festejo — a form of Peruvian dancing, formerly censored by Spaniards, which connects the dancer to joy, earth and fertility. As Peru paraded by, Marisol cheered energetically, full of pride and joy. 

Nancy and Roberto Diaz, Bolivian immigrants, have been coming to parades like this one for many years. They spoke with smiles and gentle positivity. 

“These parades show you that New York City is a city of many different countries…we know we can find people from our country.”

Gabriel Chacin is a Venezuelan man who has been living in the Bronx for the past month. In Spanish (translated by Philip Molestina), he says the parade “benefits the Hispanic community and it shows a lot of culture from a lot of countries.” Others around him wave Venezuelan flags. He says that even though they don’t share any blood, these people are basically family because of the flags they wave.

Philip Molestina, a Paraguayan-Ecuadorian Business Management major at The King’s College, led a group to see the parade. Molestina, the events coordinator for The Table, spoke of the community, friendship and family found when common heritage is celebrated and acknowledged like this.

“It’s nice to remember that New York is built on not just…a few big cultures…there is largely a little bit of every country in New York….It’s nice having a day that brings back that sense of home.”

Avian Hall is a photographer for the Empire State Tribune. He is a freshman at The King’s College majoring in Business Management.

Matthew Peterson is the Podcast Editor for the Empire State Tribune. He is a freshman at The King's College studying Journalism, Culture and Society.