By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Firecracker Ceremony and cultural festival, Sara D. Roosevelt Park, 11am to 3:30pmSaturday 6 February 2027
- Lunar New Year Parade & Festival, from 1pmSunday 21 February 2027
- Where
- Chinatown and Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Manhattan
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- February
- Dates
- Move each year with the lunar calendar
From Better Chinatown USA: the 29th Firecracker Ceremony on Lunar New Year’s Day, Saturday 6 February 2027 (the Year of the Goat, or Sheep), and the 29th Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade & Festival on Sunday 21 February 2027 at 1pm. The parade route is set by the city’s street-closure notice, published shortly before.
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Manhattan’s Chinatown marks Lunar New Year with two free events, run by Better Chinatown USA on different days. On the new year itself, the Firecracker Ceremony fills Sara D. Roosevelt Park, at Chrystie and Grand Streets, with firecrackers, lion dancers and performances from 11am to 3:30pm. The Lunar New Year Parade & Festival follows on a Sunday a couple of weeks later: it sets off at 1pm from Mott and Canal Streets and finishes near the same park, with festival booths on Bayard Street.
What NYC Lunar New Year actually is
Better Chinatown USA, a volunteer group founded to build up Manhattan’s Chinatown, has run both events for close to three decades, and calls the parade the neighbourhood’s biggest winter attraction. They fall on separate days, and visitors routinely turn up for one on the day of the other.
The Firecracker Ceremony belongs to the new year itself. Firecrackers are set off in the park to scare away bad spirits, and then the afternoon goes to lion and dragon dancers and performers, with the animals of the zodiac in costume.
The parade is the bigger crowd: lion and dragon dance troupes, martial arts schools, community associations in costume and more firecrackers, winding through the narrow streets of Chinatown for about two and a half hours. Flushing, in Queens, holds a separate parade of its own on a weekend soon after the new year.
Where to stand for the parade
- Mott Street, near Canal, for the start. The parade forms on Mott, Elizabeth and Hester Streets and sets off from Mott and Canal at 1pm. Mott is narrow and the barriers fill early, but every troupe passes close and fresh.
- Chatham Square and East Broadway. The route runs down Mott to Chatham Square, where there is more room to stand, then east along East Broadway towards the Lower East Side.
- Forsyth Street and Sara D. Roosevelt Park, for the finish. The last stretch turns up Eldridge, Hester and Forsyth Streets to Grand Street, beside the park. It is the quieter end, and the easiest to leave from.
- Bayard Street, for the festival. Food and craft booths line Bayard Street between Mott and Mulberry from late morning on parade day, a block from the start.
Tickets and what it costs
Neither event costs anything or needs a ticket. The ceremony is in a public park and the parade on public streets, so the only advantage you can buy is time: the earlier you arrive, the nearer the front you stand.
What is worth booking is a table. The big Cantonese banquet halls and dim sum houses fill for new year, and the restaurants around the route are at their busiest when the parade breaks up. Bring cash for the booths and the bakeries.
Official information and booking: betterchinatown.com
Getting there
Take the subway. Canal Street station, served by the 6, J, Z, N, Q, R and W trains, is a few blocks west of the start; Grand Street, on the B and D, comes up beside Sara D. Roosevelt Park; and East Broadway, on the F, is near the middle of the route. Streets across Chinatown close for the afternoon of the parade, so a taxi will not get close.
Dress for a New York winter. Two hours at a barrier in a side street is colder than walking, and earplugs are worth having for the firecrackers.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Coming on the new year for the parade
The new year itself is the Firecracker Ceremony and the family celebrations. The parade comes on a Sunday afterwards, so check which of the two you are planning for.
Arriving on Mott Street at one o’clock
The narrow streets near the start fill well before the parade sets off. Get there by late morning, or stand further along, around Chatham Square, where there is more room.
Driving or taking a taxi in
The roads through Chinatown close for the parade and the streets around them jam. Canal Street, Grand Street and East Broadway stations all put you on the route.
Leaving lunch until the parade ends
That is when everyone else eats. Eat before it starts, or book a banquet table for new year week ahead of time.
Other New York City events
Frequently asked questions
When is the NYC Lunar New Year parade?
On a Sunday a couple of weeks after Lunar New Year, starting at 1pm; the dates card above has this year’s. The Firecracker Ceremony is on Lunar New Year’s Day itself.
Is the Chinatown Lunar New Year parade free?
Yes. The parade and the Firecracker Ceremony are both free and need no tickets. Arrive early for a place near the front.
What is the route of the NYC Lunar New Year parade?
It starts at Mott and Canal Streets, runs down Mott Street to Chatham Square and along East Broadway, then turns up Eldridge, Hester and Forsyth Streets to finish near Sara D. Roosevelt Park at Grand Street. The city publishes the street closures shortly before.
What is the Firecracker Ceremony in Chinatown?
On Lunar New Year’s Day, firecrackers are set off in Sara D. Roosevelt Park to scare away bad spirits, followed by lion and dragon dancers and an afternoon of performances. It runs from 11am to 3:30pm and is free.
Is there a Lunar New Year parade in Flushing?
Yes. Flushing in Queens holds its own free parade on a weekend soon after the new year, starting at 11am at Union Street and 37th Avenue, in the heart of the largest Chinatown in Queens.
Sources
- Better Chinatown USA, the next dates announced
- Better Chinatown USA, the parade and festival
- Better Chinatown USA, about the organisers
- NYC Parks, the Firecracker Ceremony listing
- FOX 5 New York, the parade route and street closures
- NYC Tourism, the Flushing parade
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.