The month of May means only one thing for Bronxites – Bronx Week!
This coming Thursday, May 11 will kick-off Bronx Week 2017, an annual festival which celebrates the art, business, culture, history, food, music and points of interest that the borough has to offer.
Borough President Diaz’ media preview and celebration to kick off Bronx Week 2017 will be held in Veteran’s Memorial Hall on Monday, May 8.
The borough-wide celebration, which will mark the 46th annual Bronx Week, will take place from Thursday, May 11 to Sunday, May 21.
The ten-day festival will include events such as the 19th annual Bankers Breakfast on Friday, May 12, which will see over 400 accountants, attorneys, business owners, financial leaders, real estate brokers and technical assistance providers come together in support of Business Initiative Corporation of New York’s 504 loan program.
The Bronx Ball, a black-tie, star-studded event which honors the Bronx Walk of Fame inductees, will take place on Saturday, May 20.
Last year, the event paid homage to award-winning photographer and author Arlene Alda and television and film star Vincent Pastore, among others.
The Bronx Week 2017 parade will take place on Sunday, May 21 along Mosholu Parkway, and will include arts, food and music. Celebrities, marching bands, community organizations, schools, sports teams and civic groups will be involved in the parade’s festivities. The parade will begin at 11:30 a.m.
A Food & Arts festival will follow the parade, where visitors will have an opportunity to purchase food as well as hand-crafted and specialty items from Bronx-based artists. The Bronx Health Pavilion will also offer free health screenings and health insurance information.
A Bronx Week concert featuring local talent will also take place – more than likely during the parade. Last year, the concert included performances by Bronx-born freestyle dance singer Judy Torres, salsa singer Tito Nieves and hip hop group Naughty By Nature. The time or the line up of the concert has not yet been announced.
Bronx Week, which was originally called Bronx Day, has been held annually since 1971.
In 2010, Bronx Week was moved from June to May in order to get more participation from schools in the borough.
In 2011, the Empire State Building was lit up in the colors of the Bronx flag, which consists of orange, white and blue horizontal stripes, to honor Bronx Week’s 40th anniversary.
The inductees of the 2017 Bronx Walk of Fame induction, which concludes Bronx Week each year are: innovator Dr. Manny Villafana, whose design and implementation of a device enhanced the pacemaker; actor Selenis Leyva, from the Netflix series ‘Orange is the New Black’; DJ Funkmaster Flex, who hosts a New York hip-hop radio show; and singer/songwriter Prince Royce, writer of ‘Stand By Me’ and the recently released ‘Deja vu’, a duet with Shakira.
An official Calendar of Bronx Week events has not yet been published.
For more information on Bronx Week, visit the Bronx Tourism Council’s website at www.ilove
