San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade
Encyclopedia
The San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade is an annual event held in San Francisco
. Held approximately two weeks following the first day of the Chinese New Year
, it combines elements of the Chinese Lantern Festival
with a typical American parade
. First held in 1858 along what are today Grant Avenue
and Kearny Street
, it is the oldest and largest event of its kind in the world. The parade route begins on Market Street
and terminates in Chinatown
.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Held approximately two weeks following the first day of the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
, it combines elements of the Chinese Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival ; is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the Chinese calendar, the last day...
with a typical American parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
. First held in 1858 along what are today Grant Avenue
Grant Avenue
Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north-south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the North Beach district...
and Kearny Street
Kearny Street
Kearny Street in San Francisco, California runs north from Market Street to The Embarcadero, with a gap on Telegraph Hill. Toward its south end, it separates the Financial District from the Union Square and Chinatown districts. Further north, it passes over Telegraph Hill.-History:Kearny Street...
, it is the oldest and largest event of its kind in the world. The parade route begins on Market Street
Market Street (San Francisco)
Market Street is an important thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in...
and terminates in Chinatown
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America...
.