What was originally announced as the first Jamaica Day Parade in Brooklyn on Saturday, August 8, has now been reimagined as a Diaspora Road March and Cultural Festival.

Billed as ‘Jamaica Rising Day’, the organisers have announced that the event has been reimagined as the staging of the Jamaica Rising Diaspora Road March and Cultural Festival 2026, a community-centred cultural celebration designed to unite the Jamaican diaspora, while building momentum towards Jamaica’s historic 65th anniversary of Independence in 2027.

Originally envisioned as a large-scale parade production, the organisers have strategically repositioned the 2026 staging as “the Foundational Diaspora March leading into Jamaica 65 in 2027”, according to the organisers.