Community Pride Radiates During Dorchester Day Parade

Residents of Boston's largest neighborhood showcased the pride in their community during the 119th annual Dorchester Day Parade on Sunday, June 1.

The annual parade marched approximately 3.2 miles down Dorchester Avenue through the Dorchester neighborhood. Held every year on the first Sunday in June, the parade kicked off at 1 p.m. at Lower Mills at the Washington Street intersection and ended at Savin Hill.

According to a Boston Herald report, Dorchester Day (also affectionately known as Dot Day) commemorates the founding of the neighborhood in 1630, which is also when Boston was established. Although the town was annexed by Boston in 1870, it remains the largest neighborhood in the city.

“Dot Day is all about pulling the neighborhood and all of us together,” resident Sarah Lyons said in an interview with the Boston Herald. “It's a reason to get outside on a day like this.”

Parade participants included Little League baseball players, who distributed blue and white clappers to the crowd around the Boston Home, to individuals carrying a large banner reading, "We won't be displaced. Dot not for sale."

Representatives from the mayoral campaigns of Michelle Wu and Josh Kraft, as well as city council candidates, also shook hands with parade attendees during the event.