NYC's first-ever Jamaican Day Parade draws huge crowds to Brooklyn streets

Jamaican pride was on display on the streets of Brooklyn as a first-of-its-kind parade kicked off Saturday.

The city's first-ever Jamaican Day Parade gave a single spotlight to Jamaican culture and saluted the extraordinary contributions of Jamaicans and Jamaican Americans.

"Oh, we're so excited! The first ever! Big up to all of the Jamaican people," one paradegoer said.

"This important is celebrated right here in Brooklyn where there are so many Jamaicans living within the diaspora, and everybody today is having a good time," paradegoer Oneil Jackson said. "Everybody is happy. Everybody is fun. It's all going great."

The parade went from Church and Ocean avenues in Flatbush to Lincoln Road near Empire Boulevard.

Every step was filled with dazzling displays of Jamaican greatness.

"We're excited to be out here, the first ever Jamaican Day Parade," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said. "You see all the Jamaican flags out there. You see different cultures coming out to celebrate one culture."

"The culture of Jamaica is more than a powerful, powerful brand in the Caribbean," one participant said. "Our sports people, we have our food, our culture, our dance. This is just fantastic."  

The parade happens as Jamaica celebrates its 64th anniversary of independence.