Bay Ridge celebrates its biggest weekend of the year

Ragamuffin Parade, 3 Ave. Festival delight hundreds of thousands

September 29, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Ragamuffin Parade participants Joya Mousallem, Jason Moussallem, Sophia Cutrone and Ana Sofia Rodriguez put a lot of thought into the costumes they would wear on the big day.

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It was Bay Ridge’s biggest weekend of the year, and it gave the neighborhood a chance to roll out the red carpet to show visitors what the community is all about — being a small town in the big city.

On Saturday, the 48th Annual Ragamuffin Parade took place under sunny skies and perfect temperatures, with thousands of children marching up Third Avenue wearing colorful, and in many cases, homemade Halloween costumes. The next day, hundreds of thousands of people came back to Bay Ridge again, this time for the 41st Annual Third Avenue Festival, a 25-block-long street fair with sidewalk cafes, flea markets, concert stages and rides for children, among other attractions.

The two events serve as bookends to a special weekend in the southwest Brooklyn community and help local residents usher in the fall season. The parade and festival are traditionally held in either late September or early October.

First up was the Ragamuffin Parade, where the spectators lining the parade route (Third Avenue from 76th Street to 92nd Street) had the chance to see children dressed up as everything from the Jolly Green Giant to Katniss Everdeen. Most of the kids marched alongside their parents, but many youngsters marched behind school banners with their teachers and classmates.

The grand marshal, the Rev. Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, and Ragamuffin Person of the Year, Arlene Rutuelo, marched the entire route, basking in the cheers from the crowds, and then enjoyed the rest of the parade from their seats at the grandstand. Master of Ceremonies Frankie Marra offered a running commentary on the parade. Marra pointed out that while the parade gives kids a chance to have a day of fun, it also serves an important purpose. “It gets the kids out of the house and away from the computer. They’re not sitting down. They’re outdoors in the beautiful sunshine,” he said.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people came to Third Avenue for the festival and were again greeted with perfect weather. The festival, which ran from 69th Street to 94th Street, offered visitors a wide variety of things to see and do…and eat!

There were sidewalk cafes on nearly every block, where restaurants were serving Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Middle Eastern dishes. There were also concert stages set up at various points along the festival route, where rocks bands, church choirs, theater companies and dancers performed all afternoon. There was a wrestling ring, rides for children, a contest to determine who could do the most push-ups and an antique car show.