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Easter Parade Marchers Put Fancy Headwear On Display

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Fifth Avenue turned into an impromptu fashion show, once again, as the Easter bonnet tradition continued Sunday.

"The parade is Halloween for the head in a way, and it's a New York tradition. It shows you just how many creative and talented people are here in New York City, and I never miss it," Upper West Side resident Ken Petti told CBS 2's Mark Morgan.

"This is the biggest hat day in the world," said Harriet Rosebud of Harlem.

WCBS 880's Monica Miller was also at the parade:

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Not only was the event a chance to flaunt your most outrageous hat, but also a time to dress up your pet as well.

Anthony Rubio and his two 8-month-old chiuahuas were stopping people in their tracks in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The New Yorker said holidays like this are their time to shine.

"I do designs for dogs and these were done from scratch with little embellishments of stones and eggs and chicks and whatever I could find. I figured if I had to wear a silly hat, guess who was going to wear them too?" he told Miller.

Anthony Rubio
Anthony Rubio (credit: CBS 2)

Debra Gaffaney of Hells Kitchen described how she got her dog into the spirit of the parade.

"I had to take a pill box and glue flowers on it and then put holes in it, put ribbon in it. This is a separate necklace," she told Morgan. "Yeah, she loves it."

Emma Paltrow, 12, dressed in her Sunday best, said it took her two weeks to make her bonnet.

"I tried to make some cool things out of jelly beans, and I also like chicks, and I wanted to use a lot of color, so I did that, and it's very Eastery," she told Miller.

It may not have the history of other Big Apple parades, but you have to tip your hat to their creativity. The forum brings parade-goers back year after year.

"Regular since, oh my goodness, 1995 actually. Only missed two years out of all those years," Patrick Barnes of Hillside, N.J. told Morgan.

"It's the year of the dragon and I felt I had to make a happy dragon," said Serifina Reichmuth of Mamoroneck.

When in doubt, candy and cereal make ideal trimmings.

"Peeps, fruit loops, eggs hanging down," 7-year-old Victoria Leone explained to Morgan.

"Yes, if you can wear it, it's a hat, because people put together almost anything to make a hat for the Easter parade," said Maja Kluver
of Brooklyn.

What do you think of the Easter Parade? Sound off in our comments section below...

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