The Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival took place in Manhattan on Sunday, with the parade beginning at 10am and stretching down Fifth Avenue from 49th Street to 57th Street in Midtown, according to reports. This tradition dates back to the 1870s and is informal, requiring no tickets and having no formal procession, inviting people to walk along the route in creative outfits, sources say. The 2026 Easter Parade was dampened by gray skies and rain, but participants still turned out in force.
Creative costumes and participants were a highlight of the Easter Parade. Casey Sobel, an artist based in Brooklyn, has attended the event for years and spends months working on her creations, with her outfit this year designed to turn her into a teapot, she said. A pair of balloon artists wowed the crowd with a dress and giant rabbit made entirely of pastel colors, while pets made appearances alongside their well-dressed owners, including chihuahuas and other dogs in bonnets, attendees noted.
Another event goer brought along their own white rabbit, and others donned colorful hats and bonnets covered in flowers, frills, or eggs. In Sintra, Portugal, hundreds of motorcyclists joined a priest on Sunday to carry the cross of Christ through the town in a roaring Easter procession, as described by participants. Father Avelino Alves led the 19th annual Compasso Pascal Motard, riding with the cross on the 'motorcycle of freedom' from the parish church in Pêro Pinheiro to Sintra's National Palace, he stated.
People already know that this is Easter Day, the day of the Resurrection, the day for motorcyclists to take to the streets, just as Pope Francis used to say, to go to the peripheries and tell people that, in this world of indifference, there is still Christ, there are still people who believe.
Father Avelino created the motorcycle procession in 2007, and the event has grown steadily in popularity, with hundreds of bikers gathering each Easter Sunday morning, according to organizers. The initiative adapts the traditional Compasso Pascal by replacing the walking route with a motorcycle convoy. The procession set off at 10 am and travelled through several parishes before reaching the historic town centre at 1 pm, reports indicate.
The roar of motorcycle engines mixed with church bells at both the starting point and arrival in front of the National Palace of Sintra, and residents lined the streets along the route to watch the procession pass, witnesses said. Pope Francis died in April 2025, and his legacy was referenced in the Sintra event, though the exact impact on this year's celebrations remains unclear. The total attendance or estimated crowd size at the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in Manhattan has not been confirmed, nor has the exact number of motorcyclists who participated in the Compasso Pascal Motard in Sintra.
The specific parishes the motorcycle procession traveled through in Sintra were not detailed in reports, and it is unknown whether there were any incidents, disruptions, or safety concerns reported during either event. Beyond the mentioned costumes, the main themes or most notable outfits at the Easter Parade have not been fully documented.