Parranda in The Bronx! Puerto Rican Style Christmas Caroling in Melrose

Typical parranda in Puerto Rico / Image via Pinterest
Typical parranda in Puerto Rico / Image via Pinterest

Join the Bronx Music Heritage Center for the first ever Parranda, the traditional fun-filled Puerto Rican way of celebrating the holidays in this inaugural event that will take on a different theme each year!

The event is scheduled for Monday, December 21st and kicks off at the Bronx Documentary Center at 4pm (located at 614 Cortlandt Avenue at E 151st Street).

If you’ve never been to a parranda or know what it is, it’s basically Christmas caroling on steroids with traditional Puerto Rican instruments and the crowd grows as it goes from place to place, picking folks up along the way.

For this event, the parranda will make its way through Melrose and stop at several local businesses along the way until they reach the final destination of Rincón Criollo community garden aka Casa de Chema.

click to enlarge
click to enlarge

Each subsequent year will focus on different holiday traditions such as English wassailing, Mexican posadas, or Jamaican Jonkunnu—all processional traditions.

So mark your calendars, folks, and get ready for some fun. Oh and did we mention that Morris Perk will be there with warm beverages to keep you toasty for the Winter Solstice march?

Check out what a parranda is like

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Ed García Conde

Ed García Conde is a life-long Bronxite who spends his time documenting the people, places, and things that make the borough a special place in the hopes of dispelling the negative stereotypes associated with The Bronx. His writings are often cited by mainstream media and is often consulted for his expertise on the borough's rich history.