Chinese New Year Parade
The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is an annual nighttime celebration of Lunar New Year that travels from downtown San Francisco toward Chinatown. Dating to celebrations begun by the city’s Chinese community in the 1860s, it has grown into one of the largest Lunar New Year parades outside Asia and a signature event of Chinese American San Francisco.
What makes the parade distinctive
The spectacle combines Chinese cultural traditions with the format of an American civic parade: illuminated floats, marching bands, elaborate costumes, martial arts, lion dancers, acrobats, firecrackers, and community groups fill the procession. Its climactic attraction is the enormous Golden Dragon, carried and animated by a large team of performers.
A Chinese American tradition
The parade’s history is closely connected to Chinese immigration and the development of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Chinese immigrants began staging public New Year festivities in the 19th century, adapting the American parade tradition as a way to share Chinese culture with the wider city; the Chinese Chamber of Commerce has formally organized the parade since 1958.
More than one evening
The parade is the centerpiece of a broader Lunar New Year festival season. Related traditions and events have included the Flower Market Fair, Community Street Fair, Miss Chinatown U.S.A. activities, Choy Sun Doe festivities, and other community programs, making the celebration a substantial part of Chinatown’s annual cultural calendar.
The next parade
The official festival site currently lists the next parade for Saturday, February 20, 2027, celebrating the Year of the Ram. It is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. at Second and Market Streets, follow an approximately 1.3-mile route around Union Square, and finish near Chinatown; standing along the route is free, while bleacher seating requires tickets.
Parade Route: Market Street → Geary Street → Powell Street → Post Street → Kearny Street → Columbus Avenue.
The parade route is approximately 1.3 miles long.