Chinatown Lunar New Year's Wild Weekend: Gothamist

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Thousands of confetti-covered partygoers stormed the historic streets of Manhattan's Chinatown Sunday for the twentieth annual Lunar New Year parade.

There were lion dances, dragon dances, fanfares, drummers, beauty queens, sponsored chariots, ridiculous vehicles, goofy shooters, wide-eyed little children, politicians (Mayor Bill Blasio, Borough Presidents Gail Brewer and Eric Adams, and Senator Chuck Schumer, among others), and of course, a seemingly endless number of poppers who were raining confetti everywhere. The weather was nice and the crowds were dense and dizzying all along the one and a half kilometer route, especially along the main sights of Mott Street.

2019_02_crowd1lunar.jpg "src =" http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2019_02_crowd1lunar.jpg "width =" 640 "height =" 427 "/> <br /> <i> (Scott Lynch / Gothamist)</i></div> <p> </span></p> <p>The pig's year celebrations in the neighborhood were not limited to Sunday's parade. On Saturday, many of these same streets in the heart of Chinatown were closed to traffic for the annual Lion Dance Parades. This is a much freer event, with no NYPD barricades or a fixed route, as about 40 groups of lion dances roam the streets drumming, eating symbolically important cabbages and oranges, and entering local businesses to scare away evil spirits and give a promise of prosperity for the coming year. </p> <p><span class=

2019_02_luckymoney1.jpg "src =" http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2019_02_luckymoney1.jpg "width =" 640 "height =" 427 "/> <br /> <i> Lion in a living room (Scott Lynch / Gothamist)</i></div> <p> </span></p> <p><span class=

2019_02_liondance1.jpg "src =" http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2019_02_liondance1.jpg "width =" 640 "height =" 427 "/> <br /> <i> Business owners make sure to prepare red envelopes for lions (Scott Lynch / Gothamist)</i></div> <p> </span></p> <p>For their blessings, lions are often "fed" with a red envelope with a gift for the group. There are also confetti poppers that explode everywhere in the afternoon. Saturday's Lion Dances offer a great alternative to the big Sunday parade, to experience tradition, fun and spectacle without the monster crowd. </p> <p>The pig is the twelfth and last animal in the Chinese zodiac cycle. Next winter, we start again with the rat.</p> </p></div> <p><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src =

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