Every June, St. Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights becomes Festival del Boulevard, drawing thousands of New Yorkers for a free celebration of live music and dance, art, food, family activities, and traditions from across the Dominican Republic, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

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The Festival is proudly rooted in the Dominican community that created it, while celebrating the many cultures that make up Washington Heights and New York City. Along the Boulevard, local restaurants and vendors serve food, artists exhibit their work, and emerging and established musicians and dancers take the stage.

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Among the Festival's most distinctive traditions is Dominican Carnival. Performers fill the street in vibrant costumes and elaborate, horned papier-mâché masks, punctuating their movements with the sharp crack of the chicote, the traditional Carnival whip. It is part dance, part theater, part living tradition—bringing the sights and sounds of Dominican Carnival to Washington Heights.

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For artists, performers, exhibitors, small businesses, and community organizations, the Festival is also a platform: a chance to perform, show their work, reach new audiences, and take part in one of Upper Manhattan's largest annual community gatherings.

What began as a parade grew over the years into the one-day, multi-street Festival del Boulevard of today. Each edition also tells a different story, honoring people, places, and traditions that have shaped Dominican and Latino culture.

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More than two decades later, the Festival remains a day when the neighborhood takes over the streets to celebrate where it comes from—and everything it has become.