By Almira Bianca Baldoza, AsAmNews Intern
San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade celebrated the Year of the Dragon this year.
Before the start of the parade, there was first a lighting of the firecrackers followed by marching bands and live entertainment.
Awkwafina led as the Grand Marshal of the event and was welcomed warmly by the audience.
RELATED STORY: Awkwafina serves as grand marshal at the 2024 Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco
We interviewed Wade Lai, the current president of the SF Chinese Chamber of Commerce on how they organized the event.
“This parade starts every year right after the last parade so it takes a year to plan- especially this year, it’s Year of the Dragon and it’s even more strenuous and as you can see there’s dragons all over the town. We have 5 dragon statues around the city including at Chase Center so we’re very excited! It’s been a while. With the pandemic, I think everybody’s coming back out in for Chinese New Year.”
We also asked him how this year is different from last year.
“Well I think number one, this year is the Year of the Dragon. Last year, it was also raining on the parade so it’s a little bit of a downer. But this year, we have great weather. We're so grateful. So hopefully that it’ll be a fun and a great night!”
We came across Miss Chinatown USA, Ashlyn Tsui, to share a few words about the parade that she is a part of.
“The parade, oh my goodness, especially this year, they’re making it super big. Year of the Dragon, most lucky zodiac sign. You may or may not know, it is the only mythical creature on the zodiac wheel so I’m wishing everyone a prosperous Year of the Dragon.”
The parade lasted through night time to be able to see the illuminating dragon floats and it ended with fireworks around 8pm in the Union Square.
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. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.