India Day Parade

Missed the Parade but was able to catch the street vendors and dance performances next to Madison Square Park. If you’re a local, just do it. It’ll make you more aware of the colorful culture of India and you’ll be able to flavor the culinary delights that the country has the offer. I was able to savor some of the food from the street vendors. Prices weren’t cheap and you can get better quality and bigger portions of Indian Food on any of the Indian restaurants Lexington Ave in the Mid 20s.
Be ware that it gets SUPER crowded

I haven’t been to any of the other parades in NYC, so I can’t compare. Not sure what I was expecting, but I was pretty disappointed with the India Day Parade. It certainly didn’t showcase the glorious culture of India.
The parade route is usually on Madison Ave from 38^th to 23^rd St; street fair follows on Madison Avenue between 27^th and 25^th St. Cultural performances are also scheduled at the end of the parade. The fair had a number of food stalls of Indian food, the food was good albeit slightly overpriced.
The parade seemed disjointed. There were a number of floats for TV channels, banks blasting Bollywood dance numbers. Then there were floats for the different community groups some showcasing their leaders and their family members & friends who seemed to be happy to catch the eye of the camera. Then there was this random guy driving a Lamborghini. I didn’t stick around to the end of the parade where performances were scheduled. Hopefully that was better than the actual parade.
Every year there’s a grand marshal for the parade usually a Bollywood celebrity. The area near the stage was jam-​packed with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the celebrity.
I have seen the parade once and that’s it for me. I probably wouldn’t make an effort to go again next year.