PROVIDENCE — A boisterous and colorful parade that snaked from Waterplace Park near the State House through downtown Providence last night brought the city’s SoundSession music festival to an enthusiastic close as thousands watched and cheered the event that annually celebrates the city’s multicultural population.

The new racial and ethnic mosaic that is 21st century Providence was on display as revelers thronged the old downtown retail district to listen and dance to bands influenced by reggae, Afro Beat, Cape Verdean music, samba, calypso and strains of the Carribbean.

Last night marked the end of the weeklong celebration of arts and music that drew thousands from the city’s neighborhoods and the far ends of New England.

It was a midsummer influx into Providence — think WaterFire with a younger and much more diverse crowd — by many people viewing the city’s nightlife for the first time. A huge block party that was still going strong well past midnight.

“This reminds me of Montreal during the Jazz Festival,” said Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Edward Clifton , referring to the annual June celebration in that Canadian city that fills streets with jazz and revelry. “SoundSession is just a great event for our city.”

Now in its fifth edition, SoundSession has gotten bigger every year. It is sponsored by the Providence Black Repertory Company, the city’s arts, culture and tourism program, and a group of businesses, including, locally, BankRI, Narragansett Brewing, the Providence Phoenix and WBRU radio.

The parade, which began at 10 p.m., drew a loud, enthusiastic crowd. There was a large city police presence, but no trouble, according to Deputy Police Chief Paul Kennedy. “It is great to see so many people downtown at night like this,” said Kennedy as he watched the parade near Kennedy Plaza. “There hasn’t been any trouble at all.”

Hundreds marched in the parade, which included dancers from an array of local Latino groups, the Hot Tamale Brass Band, women from Providence Roller Derby, a group marching under a large banner urging people to “Share More, Consume Less.”

Michael Van Leesten, chairman of the Black Repertory Company and a longtime civil rights activist, says the festival is a great way to use music and performance art to forge unity among people from diverse cultures and racial backgrounds.

“We are trying to build bridges and bring people together,” says Van Leesten. “We are using arts and music to bring oneness to our community. Music and the arts are things that everybody in the community can appreciate. We think we can break down stereotypes this way.”

Mayor David Cicilline was out greeting revelers. Rep. Grace Diaz, D-Providence, who is also vice chairwomen of the state Democratic Party, was dancing and marching in the parade. Among the other marchers was Lucie Burdick, president of Local 580 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents state social workers.

“This is a great event for the city,” said Diaz.

For Bert Crenca, the artistic director of AS220, the local agency that presents and promotes arts and culture, the weeklong SoundSession is an event the city needs to embrace and grow the way Edinburgh promotes its Fringe Festival every August.

“This is going to be bigger than WaterFire someday,” says Crenca. “This is becoming a legitimate national and even international event.

“It brings to the city people who become interested in working and living here,” says Crenca. “It brings the kind of things that make kids getting out of college want to stay here and put down roots.”

The festival featured diverse offerings, from the Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island booth where volunteers handed out free condoms to the pungent smell of a variety of ethnic food being cooked on grills.

At the Tina’s Jamaican Restaurant booth, curried goat was going for $6 complete with rice and beans. Food for Soul, the Admiral Street restaurant, had a stand featuring collard greens, teriyaki chicken and Buffalo chicken wings. Cans of cold Narragansett beer were sold for $2.

Adam Spector and Michelle Burtchell, both of Boston, traveled to Providence yesterday on a shopping trip. They stayed around to take in SoundSession and came away impressed.

“This is a very nice event, great music and all,” said Burtchell. For Spector, the chance to drink a beer in the closed-off part of Westminster Street while listening to music made it special.

“You can drink beer in the streets — you can’t do that in Boston,” said Spector.

Providence residents of a certain age, who remember a city where Westminster Street was a creepy place after dark, were moved by what they saw.

Pam Steager, who has lived in the city for 35 years, remembers when women didn’t venture out unescorted at night to the streets that hosted last night’s parade. “How wonderful it is to be a woman and be able to walk the streets of downtown Providence and not feel fear. This is a very special event.”

smackay@projo.com