2025 Chinese New Year Parade: Route + Full Details (San Francisco)

David Yu via Flickr - CC BY-NC 2.0

Named one of the world’s top ten parades, the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. It was started in the 1860s and takes place the weekend of the Chinese New Year Community Street Fair (Feb. 15-16, 2025).

Typically, nearly 100 groups will participate in the parade and many of the floats and specialty groups will be featuring the theme of this year’s Chinese zodiac sign – the year of the snake

2025 Chinese New Year Parade
Saturday, February 15, 2025 | 5:15 – 8 pm
Chinatown, San Francisco
FREE standing room (bleacher seats start at $45 for 2025)

• $65 – Section A1 (Covered by a canopy, Closest to Chinatown)
• $45 – Section B
• $45 – Section C
• $75 – Section E3 (incl. gift bag, Closest to Union Square)

Fireworks for 2025? In 2024 the festival ended with a short fireworks display. No details yet have been confirmed for 2025.

• Rain or Shine
• Parade is approximately 1.3 miles in length and lasts about 2 1/2 hours.

Nowhere in the country will you see a lunar new year parade with more gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, exploding firecrackers, and of course the newly crowned Miss Chinatown U.S.A. and her court.

A crowd favorite will be the new and spectacular 288-foot Golden Dragon (“Gum Lung”). It takes a team of over 180 men and women from the martial arts group White Crane to carry this dragon throughout the streets of San Francisco.

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2025 Parade Route

The Chinese New Year Parade, celebrating the Year of the Dragon will be on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 5:15 pm, stepping off at Second and Market Streets. It is a free event for all to attend, but tickets must be purchased to sit in the bleacher sections.

Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

The parade starts off at 2nd and Market Streets, goes around Union Square and ends at Kearny Street & Columbus Ave. The distance of the parade route is approximately 1.3 miles. The parade is a free event for all to attend and you may stand anywhere on the parade route, behind the barricades, to watch the parade.

The map also shows the location of crossing points through the parade route. These areas can be used to safely cross the parade route but must be kept clear for emergency personnel. Please do not stand in these areas to watch the parade.

It is strongly suggested to take public transportation.

CNY

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.