BUFFALO. N.Y. — Polish pride is on full display Monday as celebrations for one of the biggest parties in Buffalo get underway.

In the historic Polonia District, they're preparing for Dyngus Day.

It's all about renewal as we mark the end of Lent with delicious food, plenty of polka and a party in Old Polonia.

After a scaled-down event during the pandemic, the Queen City is ready to welcome back a full-scale celebration for 2022.

This marks the 16th year of the celebration, so despite the cold, organizers are expecting thousands of people in red and white, squirting water guns, eating pierogis and dancing to polka.

The first parade started off in 2007 with only 12 cars and around 500 people. Now it's become a tradition for many folks in Western New York with numbers up to 70,000 or more people.

Organizers say after the challenges of last year, they're especially grateful to welcome back the entire community.

"You know, the spirit of Dyngus Day is one of rebirth and renewal and starting over celebrating the resurrection," said Eddy Dobosiewicz. "So there's probably never been a better time to have a Dyngus Day celebration than right now. This time in humanity was tailor-made for a Dyngus Day celebration. And of course, we do our best here in Buffalo because Buffalo, New York is the biggest state capital of the world."

The parade starts at 5 p.m. and will head down Broadway from Memorial Drive to Paderewski Drive. 

The schedule of events began at 8 a.m. Full details on the day's activities can be found here.