The parade was started by New Yorkers of Puerto Rican ancestry. Today, people of Puerto Rican ancestry from all across the United States come to New York to join in. Also, since Puerto Rico is a Spanish-speaking land, other Spanish speakers also come to enthusiastically participate. Thus the number of groups in the parade has increased year by year.
遊行由紐約的波裔人民所發起，到了此日，全美各地的波裔人民，就會如朝聖般前往紐約集合，而波裔屬西班牙語系、其他西語系國家的人民，也有不少前來熱情捧場，所以遊行隊伍年年擴大增多。