San Francisco Celebrates the Chinese New Year

As far as most Americans are concerned, New Year’s celebrations are now just a distant memory. In San Francisco, however, which hosts North America’s most massive annual Chinese New Year parade, the partying is mere days away. On January 25, the Year of the Pig officially became the Year of the Rat, and on Saturday, February 8, the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown will welcome over a million celebrants to marvel at a spectacular array of acrobats, tumblers, stilt walkers, drummers, and more all twirling, spinning, dancing, beating, and marching in a procession like none other. Hundreds of thousands of firecrackers will burst in the cool night air, heralding the arrival of that fantastical fire-breathing beast that is also the parade’s main attraction, a 268-foot-long Golden Dragon brought to life by a hundred women and men all surging forward as a single sublime creature.

Location: Chinatown, San Francisco