Haitian American Heritage Month is in full swing this week with a series of events upcoming, highlighted by Sunday’s annual Unity Parade on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan and Dorchester.

The 22nd annual parade kicks off at 1 p.m. sharp in Mattapan Square and follows a route to Harambee Park at Talbot Avenue. Haitian American United (HAU), the group that organizes the parade, announced this week that Donald Alexis, the affordable housing developer and executive director of Caribbean Integration Community Development (CICD), will serve as the grand marshal.

“I think the parade is one of the things that brings the Haitian American community together from all over the diaspora, and it’s one way to celebrate home,” Alexis said. “To be chosen is a great honor as a Haitian American. Obviously, they could have chosen anyone from among the 50,000 to 75,000 Haitian Americans here, but they chose me, and it shows they trust me to represent the community in a positive manner.”

The parade, which will prompt detours and closures along the avenue on Sunday, is the biggest in a series of celebratory events through to month’s end. They include:

• Mattapan’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Academy at Mattahunt Elementary School will hold a Haitian flag raising ceremony at 7:30 a.m. on Friday this week. Later in the day. City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune will host the annual Haitian Heritage Breakfast on City Hall at 10 a.m., followed by the 28th annual City of Boston Haitian Flag Raising ceremony at noon, hosted by Mayor Wu.

• The 6th annual Haitian American Business Expo and Job Fair will begin at noon on Saturday in the Boston Prep Charter School, 885 River St., Hyde Park. The event is hosted by the US Haitian Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

• Next Monday (May 20) will see people gathering for a kickoff ceremony in the shadows of the Zakim Bridge next to TD Garden from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. highlighting the Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center, which is scheduled to open later this year at Lovejoy Wharf.

• On Tuesday (May 21), the storyteller Charlot Lucien will present a special Haitian-themed event at the Mattapan Library at 6 p.m.

• The Mattahunt School’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Academy will host a Haitian Heritage Month celebration on Fri., May 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. That same day, the Boston Red Sox, with Ruthzee Louijeune, will host the first-ever Haitian Cultural Night at Fenway Park with a 7:10 p.m. start. The event will include Haitian music at the ballpark and a commemorative Red Sox jersey.

• On Sun., May 26, the Immigrant Family Service Institute (IFSI) will present a patriotic concert with the sounds of Haiti at New Mission High School, 655 Metropolitan Ave., Hyde Park, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• State Sen. Liz Miranda will host the 17th annual Haitian Heritage Month celebration at the State House on Fri., May 31, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.