Buffalo's Dyngus Day parade turns twenty this year. Two decades of celebrating Polish-American heritage in the Historic Polonia District on the day after Easter.
"We started the parade twenty years ago for two reasons," said Eddy Dobosiewic."We wanted to shine a light on the area near the Central Terminal because it's a truly forgotten Buffalo neighborhood and it has a tremendous amount of potential."
Dobosiewic is co-founder of Buffalo's Dyngus Day parade.
Buffalo's Polish community has lived on the East side of Buffalo for multiple generations in the Broadway-Fillmore area.
The first parade in 2006 was much smaller than recent parades.
"That first year we had maybe a couple of hundred people show up and about 25 organizations marching.Now, it's off the charts. People come from all over the country because Dyngus day is not just a day, it's astate of mind. It's about renewal and hope and new beginnings," said Dobosiewic.
Buffalo's Dyngus Day traditions, as a post-Lenten celebration, include people dousing each other with water and carrying of pussy willows in observance of spring.
It's origin locally goes back to the 1960's. The Chopin Singing Society started modern day Dyngus Day celebrations at the Adam Mickiewicz Library.
Buffalo's Dyngus Day Parade takes place on Monday, April 6 at 5:30 pm starting at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Paderewski Drive, (near the Buffalo Central Terminal), then moves west down Broadway, ending near Fillmore Avenue.
You can find more information about Buffalo's Dyngus Day celebration here.
This year marks twenty years for the parade
