DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Let your flag fly at this year’s International Day of Friendship.
The third-annual festival will take over Downtown Brooklyn Sunday with a flag parade, cultural performances and free tastings of international dishes.
The festivities begin at 1 p.m. with the Unity Parade of Flags, which will feature flags from 195 different nations, as well as drummers, dancers and stilt walkers. Borough President Eric Adams will lead the march down Fulton Street, from Flatbush Avenue to Cadman Plaza.
“I call on all Brooklynites to ‘Embrace Your Hyphen’ as Americans with distinct heritage,” Adams said in a statement about the event.
Following the parade, delegates from each country will link hands and form a human chain around Columbus Circle Park.
Local groups will then take the stage for a series of performances that will feature readings, dance and music representative of places ranging from Africa and the Balkan Peninsula to India, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Free food tastings will be provided by Brooklyn Born, representing Africa; Debbie’s Sweet Treats and Yankee Doodle Dandy’s, representing the Americas; Desi Food Truck and Kazi Halal, representing Asia; Nio’s Trinidad Roti Truck, representing the Caribbean; and La Bella Torte, representing Europe.
“International Day of Friendship reflects the beauty of a borough where 47 percent of households speak a language other than English at home, more than one-third of residents were born overseas, and the sounds of many different languages are the music of our street corners. I invite everyone to stand with me in our diversity as One Brooklyn,” Adams added.
The festival will end with a mass sing-along of “We Are the World.”
