These U.S. cities celebrate Lunar New Year the best way

Without a doubt, San Francisco has the biggest and the most vibrant Chinatown of any city in the U.S. and consequently offers the best Lunar New Year party in the country. Celebrations have been taking place here since the 1860s! The Chinese New Year Parade is one of the few remaining illuminated night parades in North America, the biggest parade for this event outside of Asia, and was named one of the top 10 parades in the world by the International Festivals & Events Association. That’s a lot of kudos! The parade will next be held on February 15, 2025. But there's also a full slate of events beginning in late January, so check the website for details.

Second only in size and scope to San Francisco, the biggest and best offering on the East Coast can be found in Manhattan, with a firecracker ceremony and cultural festival on January 29, 2025, at Sara D. Roosevelt Park. That said, you'll more than likely be able to find a ton of other Lunar New Year celebrations happening throughout NYC and Jersey City areas. Chinatown is located in Lower Manhattan and the event has an incredible street party vibe, with performance artists and vendors helping keep everyone warm and energized. Another good spot will be in Queens, where a large Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese community resides.

Declared an official holiday in Boston in 2023, Lunar New Year 2025 will include a parade on February 9 beginning at Phillips Square at 10am and finishing by 3pm. Keep your plan flexible in case extreme weather plays a role! Boston's Chinese community is the third largest in the U.S., and the parade route wraps around Chinatown. Watch for multiple lion dances all over town, as well as dragon dances so long as rain or snow don't interfere with the delicate and beautiful costumes.

Things begin on February 1, when the Asia Society Texas hosts a day of celebration in Houston, held at their center at 1370 Southmore Blvd. Enjoy lion dances on the lawn, Chinese music and dance performances, the chance to make Lunar New Year-themed crafts and explore the Space City: Art in the Age of Artemis exhibition. Admission is free, but advance registration is required. A second Lunar New Year event is held the same day at the Chinese Community Center in Houston, also free, with 50 vendors at the Lucky Find Bazaar and lots of performances and craft making.

Disney's California Adventure will again host Lunar New Year festivities this year, starting January 17 and going through February 16. Festivities include Mulan’s Lunar New Year procession on select days, Hurry Home nighttime water show, Mickey and Minnie Mouse in colorful Korean New Year attire, and menus, merchandise and crafts all themed to this special time of year. At the Lucky Wishes Wall at Paradise Gardens, you’ll walk beneath ornamental lanterns and write down your wish for next year’s luck! All this is free to park visitors...as you'd expect after mortgaging your home for park tickets.

Mark your calendar for February 24, 2025, for Spokane’s fourth annual Lunar New Year and ANHPI Business EXPO. Organized by Spokane United We Stand, the festivities include performances, cultural exhibits, a petting zoo, vendors, 5,000 red envelopes with gift cards inside, swag bags for the first 500 entrants and even fireworks at 7 pm. Doors open at 1pm. Held in the Spokane Convention Center, the event should draw a ton of people; in past, attendance has been around 20,000 people. Free.

Ring in the Lunar New Year in the Windy City! This year, Chicago welcomes the Year of the Snake with a parade on February 9, 2025. It begins at 1pm at the intersection of 24th Street and Wentworth Avenue and moves north towards the viewing stand at Cermak and Wentworth, ending around 3pm. Stand along the parade route to see the traditional dragon and lion dancing teams, impressive floats, marching bands and other groups. Public transportation and ride-sharing is encouraged as the area will be (happily) congested.

Philadelphia's festivities are magnificently profuse, with 16 parades, events and dinners. Traditional lion dances will be found everywhere in the city—indoors and outdoors—and you can attend Dumpling Academy, eat incredible foods, see waist drumming and get digital red envelopes at the Fashion District, which is just a small sampling of what's on offer. See the website to plan your multiple activites.

Enjoy the Chinatown Festival and Parade on February 25, 2025, happening 9am-10pm with the parade at 4:30pm. The route begins at the Hawai’i state capitol lawn and passes through Hotel Street to River Street's Chinatown. The former Night in Chinatown Festival is now called Chinatown Festival, taking place at Beretania Street and flowing into the historical A’ala Park. There will be plenty of cultural performances, Keiki bounce houses, foods to sample and family-friendly events.

The L.A. community celebrates with multiple festivals at various locations throughout the city, but the kingpin is the 126-year-old Golden Dragon Parade on February 8, 2025. Expect crowds, with tens of thousands of people lining the parade route to enjoy marching bands, lion dancers, kung fu performers and festive floats. The parade lasts from 1 to 4 p.m. and is free, although you can purchase grandstand seating when the event gets closer.

This fun intermixing of the Lunar New Year with Eastern and Western music performed by the New Jersey Symphony takes place the night of January 25, 2025. This annual tradition was the brainchild of music director Xian Zhang and is a great way to ring in the new year. Rather than a parade, the action is onstage, perhaps better for a cold February evening!