Easter Bonnet Festival and Parade 2012

New Yorkers and tourists wearing their Easter hats and costumes roamed Fifth Avenue yesterday in celebration of Easter. The parade originated from the tradition of wearing new clothes and hats at Easter when wealthy New Yorkers show off their new bonnets on Fifth Avenue after Easter services.

2011 Annual Easter Parade And Easter Bonnet Festival

Lego ferris wheel

Emmy Award winning actor Leslie Jordan ("Will and Grace") promoting his new Off-Broadway Musical, "Lucky Guy"

Easter bonnets, ranging from elegant to outrageous took center stage in today's spectacle that is the Annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets. An event in which there is no such thing as proper or improper chapeaux, the Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival began at 10 AM and ended at about 4 PM. According to Midmanhattan.com, the tradition dates back to the middle of the 19th century, "when the social elite would attend services at one of the 5th Avenue churches and parade their new fashions down the Avenue afterwards."