Chapeau to New York City's Bonnet Festival

We Germans are fond of our carnivals, which take place at the start of Lent, particularly in the Catholic south of the country, where my parents came from. We like to don costumes and march in parades, as a last moment of indulgence before the Lenten season arrives.

But should we also consider the idea of a parade on Easter itself? This was one of the thoughts I was having as I headed out to Manhattan's annual Easter Parade, or Bonnet Festival, yesterday.

Then again, perhaps we couldn't pull off such a uniquely New York event? The festival of course takes place on Fifth Avenue, right in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. There is, of course, no better place to see and be seen! And the more imaginative and creative and extravagant the hat and outfit to match, the better. 

Not to be outdone, my wife and I were sporting two of the hats we wear in our film about Oswald Ottendorfer, in which we play a pair of “history gnomes”:

So, besides our gnomish hat gear, did I find any of Germany in New York City? Believe it or not, in the melee of people sporting outlandish hats ranging from protest statements to hats (and even earrings) made of dried pasta, we encountered some tourists from Stuttgart wearing their ver.di caps–ver.di being Germany's second largest trade union, based in Berlin. Hmm, how did this group make it through immigration? We didn’t dare ask. But they were pleased as punch when we asked them if we could take their photo! (No one else had made that request, they told us.)

The pageant is a New York City tradition dating back to the 1870s, when Easter Sunday was a time to wear a new hat, symbolizing new beginnings. In New York at that time, Gilded Age elites would attend the service at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church or St. Patrick’s Cathedral and then stroll along 5th Avenue in all their finery. 

These days, some of them even stroll along with their pets. Which shouldn't surprise us as Queelin—our pet pig, yes, really—doesn’t attend the Fifth Avenue parade, but she too occasionally rocks some Easter rabbit ears.

“Only in New York,” many people are heard saying at this annual event. And maybe that's true. All in all, it's a colorful affair and a paradise for photographers, with good vibes all around, helped along by this year's perfect weather.

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In other “Germany in New York” news: We were pleased to discover that Chelsea Market carries some German Easter treats, from the Weibler company. 

As it turns out, it's easy enough to find something of German Easter here in the Big Apple.

Happy Easter! And chapeau, as we Germans like to say, to the many creative hat wearers!