The 26th annual Lunar New Year Parade took place in Chinatown last Sunday where dragons and dancers alike took to the streets. Thousands of New Yorkers flocked to the corner of Mott and Hester in lower Manhattan to celebrate the Year of the Dragon among community leaders. There were countless floats covered in red and gold decorations and speakers blasting loud music to ring in the New Year.
Sidewalks were packed with people waving Chinese flags in one hand and American ones in the other. Families were stationed along the perimeter of the parade route dancing along to songs and waving to performers. Even local business owners found themselves standing outside of their storefronts to witness all of the excitement. One woman who worked at the Hong Kong supermarket offered smiles and waves to a middle school marching band that was performing in the parade.
The New York streets converted into a sea of parade floats and dancers. There were all sorts of performances from DJ’s on the Mohegan Sun float to dance troupes dressed in matching blue and red outfits. There were remixes of pop songs with traditional Chinese music being blared from the floats as well as drumlines and other marching band performances walking down the route. The crowd was energetic and dancing along, many children had been lifted onto parents shoulders to get a better glimpse of all the action. Some lucky folks were also given cards in red envelopes from parade participants to celebrate the New Year.
Other floats took on a more interactive approach that included confetti blasters and silly string. Those who secured spots in the front row of the parade ended up covered in the celebratory remnants from the American Fulfillment Foundation Inc.’s float. The organizers of the float were smiling as they blasted confetti into the air and sprayed the crowd with silly string.
Being that 2024 is the year of the dragon, a year that encourages charisma, ambition, and luck, parade-goers were most excited to see all of the dragons that danced through the parade. Fortunately they had many opportunities to celebrate the fortunate creature as there were several dragons in the lineup. A thin, gold dragon that was at least twenty feet long was orchestrated by several dancers with sticks to hold it up. It weaved its way down the route and earned applause and cheers from the audience. Other mythical creatures included a trio of three furry dragons in red, yellow, and black. They opened their mouths to roar at the audience and were near the front of the parade as leaders.
The Lunar New Year parade is celebrated annually and saw upwards of 500k attendees this year.
