Celebrate Spring By Parading Through Some Community Gardens

If you missed yesterday’s festivities, don’t worry — you can still celebrate Mother Nature.

This Saturday, Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is putting on an event that sounds like a blend between Mardis Gras and Earth Day.

During “Spring Awakening,” three groups of revelers will parade through East Village and Lower East Side gardens “Pied Piper-style.”

At 1 p.m., the three parades — “Flower Power,” “Peas & Love” and “Salad Daze” — will depart from Dias Y Flores, Children’s Magical Garden, and LaGuardia Corner Gardens, respectively, and converge at El Jardin del Paraiso two hours later for an after-party.

“The gardens are such an intricate part of the neighborhood,” says Charles Krezell, the president of LUNGS. “We want to celebrate.”

Krezell says the group is modeling the event after Earth Celebration, a parade and costumed party which would take place on a Saturday near Earth Day, and ended about 10 years ago. “It was very popular,” he says.

LUNGS is encouraging participants to bring their dazzle and dance like nobody’s watching. So go on, exercise your flower power.

The original version of this post was updated with a quote from Charles Krezell.