Hartford - The annual West Indian parade brought some Caribbean flavor to downtown Hartford on Saturday, taking a route through the heart of the city for the first time in years.

The parade is a yearly celebration of the independence of Caribbean nations like Jamaica, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago. Organizers say it aims to give everyone a taste of West Indian culture.

Still, parade organizer Hugh Freeney said the decision to alter the traditional route for the 49th annual parade was controversial.

The parade route started downtown until about 15 years ago, but the parade and the festival that follows have always been concentrated in Hartford's north side, where the much of the city's growing West Indian population lives. This year, most of the celebration was downtown.

Freeney said encouragement from city officials, and the fact the West Indian population has spread out from the north side, led parade organizers to consider involving more of the city.

"There's still mixed feelings because it always was a sort of north-end thing," he said.

Trucks blaring rapid tempo Caribbean music, and followed by trains of dancers wearing the bright yellows, blues and greens of the West Indian nations, paraded into Bushnell Park in downtown Hartford on Saturday afternoon.

Vendors hawked Caribbean staples like jerk chicken and oxtail while the park's stage featured musical artists and dancing.

"It's like St. Patty's day, everyone becomes Irish that day," Freeney said. "Well, everyone becomes West Indian this day."

Parade-goer Val Gripes, a 54-year-old city councilor had mixed feelings about the new route, but said she enjoyed watching all the "Caribbean countries coming together."

Connecticut has about 80,000 residents from West Indian backgrounds, a population that has grown by over 50 percent in 10 years. West Indians now make up just over 2 percent of the state's population according to U.S. census data.

The parade was organized by the West Indian Foundation in Hartford, which coordinates with 61 similar organizations throughout Connecticut.