With 2025 just at the cusp, major cities across the U.S. are gearing up to celebrate one of Asia’s most prominent holidays.
This upcoming Chinese New Year — which falls on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 — will recognize the Year of the Snake, the sixth Chinese zodiac.
Years of the Snake include: 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 and 2013.
San Francisco
San Francisco will host its annual festival and parade, considered the largest Chinese New Year parade outside Asia, on Saturday, Feb. 15 in Chinatown.
The month-long celebrations will begin on Saturday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Jan. 26 with the Flower Market Fair followed by the Chinese New Year’s Day Opening Ceremony the following Wednesday.
The San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce and ABC 7 will partner to live broadcast the Chinese New Year parade, “ABC7 Presents: The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade”, on Feb 15.
New York City
New York City’s Chinatown is also expecting hundreds of thousands of people at its 27th annual Lunar New Year Parade and Festival on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.
The parade, organized by Better Chinatown USA, will start in Little Italy and make its way through Chinatown before stopping on Broome Street near Sara D. Roosevelt Park, according to ABC 7.
Festival booths will be lined up along Bayard Street between Mulberry and Mott St from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Leading up to the parade and festival is the New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival on Wednesday, Jan. 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Like San Francisco’s parade, ABC 7 will also live broadcast the Lunar New Year Parade and Festival as a sponsor.
Washington, D.C.
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Washington, D.C. has partnered with the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs to host the 2025 Annual Chinese Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown on Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.
There will be a firecracker show as the parade’s finale.
Other Chinese New Year celebrations in the D.C. area include a Winter Lantern Festival and a lion dance performance by the Tai Yim Kung Fu School at The Kennedy Center.
Chicago
The Chicago Chinatown Community Foundation presents the Lunar New Year Parade on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. The parade will start at the intersection of 24th Street and Wentworth Avenue where it will travel north.
It will feature traditional dancing lion and dragon teams and marching bands.
Seattle
The Chinatown-International District in Seattle will host its annual Lunar New Year Celebration at Hing Hay Park on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There will be a Food Walk with over 40 vendors lined up along South King St, while dance performances take place on the main stage.
Boston
Boston’s Chinatown will host its annual Chinese New Year Parade on Sunday, Feb. 9 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A huge thank you to all our readers who supported our year-end giving campaign. Not only did you help us reach our goal, you busted through it. Donations to Asian American Media Inc and AsAmNews are always tax-deductible. It’s never too late to give.
Please also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and X.