The 2011 Fish Parade took place on Saturday June 25th, 2011. The parade route and locations was the same as in past years and US Congressman Jose Serrano, D-NY http://serrano.house.gov was kind enough to lead this neighborhood spectacular. News 12 http://www.news12.com and Bronxnet http://www.bronxnet.org were both on hand to video document these festivities.
This year there was a unique collaboration with local Hunts Point resident Lucia Hernandez (Taino name Yubanaru) to incorporate an American Indian festival into the celebration at Barretto Point Park. Ms. Hernandez and Firebird Greywolf (Cherokee/Tsalagi descendant), the former president of the National Alliance of Native Americans and native spiritual leader, were on hand to educate our neighbors about the presence and lifestyle of the Sivanoy tribe that once called Hunts Point home. The Native component of the day included drum circles, dance, and native arts & crafts.
The very first Hunts Point Fish Parade was held in 2003 to raise public awareness to the community that was to become home to the Fulton Street Fish Market, following in the trail of wholesale meat and fruit vendors. Prior to that, THE POINT spearheaded an outreach to and protest for the residential neighborhood, highlighting environmental concerns about a huge commercial enterprise coming to the area.
When the move was inevitable, the parade became a vehicle to celebrate Hunts Point and to get to know our new neighbor. This parade welcomes the participation of community groups, organizations and individuals. Key to the Fish Parade is an emphasis on incorporating some of the quality-of-life issues in Hunts Point into the pageantry of Parade. Winding for a mile through the streets of Hunts Point, and culminating at Barretto Point Park, the procession features new and vibrant work by emerging artists, community groups and schools throughout the Bronx and beyond.
SEBCO Development has been sponsoring the Hunts Point Summer Festival since 1993. For years the festival took place on Hunts Point Avenue, and was the only day of the year that the street was closed to vehicular traffic, the Bx6 bus was re-routed, and community residents claimed the space. But then in 2006 two new waterfront parks finally opened in Hunts Point representing the first waterfront access our neighborhood has had in decades, and the very first developments along the South Bronx Greenway.
To highlight these accomplishments, the parade marched from one park to the other, and the festival took place inside of Barretto Point Park.