Chicago's Chinatown Hosts Lunar New Year Parade
Chicago's Chinatown is hosting its annual Lunar New Year celebration and parade today, March 1. The event, organized by the Chicago Chinatown Community Foundation, features traditional customs to mark the beginning of the new year.
This year's celebration ushers in the Year of the Horse, which begins on February 17, 2026. The 2026 zodiac is specifically the Fire Horse, an element that symbolizes passion, creativity, and drive. This combination is believed to herald a period of bold changes and forward momentum. The parade route travels north along Wentworth Avenue from 24th Street to the viewing stand at Cermak Road. It features traditional dragon and lion dancing teams, whose performances are believed to bring good luck and prosperity. The celebration also includes colorful floats and marching bands, with the sounds of drums and firecrackers meant to drive away evil spirits. Chicago's current Chinatown was established around 1912 after residents and businesses moved south from the Loop. The original enclave, located near Clark and Van Buren streets, formed in the 1870s as Chinese immigrants arrived from the West Coast seeking to escape anti-Chinese violence. Rising rents and discrimination pushed the community to its present-day location on the South Side. A key landmark in the neighborhood is the Pui Tak Center on Wentworth Avenue, formerly the On Leong Chinese Merchants Association Building. Often called Chinatown's "city hall," it was built in 1928 and served as an immigrant assistance center, school, and meeting hall. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1993. The parade's organizer, the Chicago Chinatown Community Foundation, is a non-profit dedicated to promoting Chinese culture through educational initiatives. Net proceeds from its events, which also include a Dragon Boat Race for Literacy and a Summer Fair, are used to fund these cultural and educational programs. The 15-day Lunar New Year celebration, sometimes called Spring Festival, traditionally concludes with the Lantern Festival. Other customs include thoroughly cleaning homes to sweep away bad luck from the previous year and giving red envelopes (hóngbāo) containing money to children as a symbol of good fortune.
