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If you read my previous article differentiating the West’s New Year versus Lunar New Year, then you might be wondering about joining an alternative Lunar New Year’s celebration in the US.
Manhattan is a great place to start given New York State recently made the Chinese Lunar New Year a public school holiday. But when it comes to history and cultural impact, the most famous Lunar New Year in the US belongs to San Francisco.
But given the fact that there’s a Chinatown in pretty much every city on the planet, and the US is home to dozens of tight-knit Chinese communities, we need to dig a bit deeper.
Looking for the best ways to celebrate Chinese New Year and extend the holiday fun? Here’s your short list of the best parties in the United States.
A crash course on Lunar New Year vs. calendar New Year
In the West, our New Year is based on the Gregorian calendar, which was rolled out by a pope in the late 1500s. Up until that point, Europe was using the Julian calendar, which Julius Caesar himself set up back in 46 BCE.
The Gregorian calendar uses leap years to organize twelve months in the year. It’s used as a global standard thanks to Western Europe’s extensive colonial influence.
But the Gregorian calendar is one of dozens in use around the world. In fact, lunar calendars are much more common. These run according to the solar and/or lunar year, and are based on moon cycles; there are thirteen ‘months’ on a lunar calendar instead of twelve.
New Year in the West falls on January 1. But in terms of the Lunar New Year, the calendar starts fresh with the first new moon after twelve cycles.
That’s about as simple as I can make it. Just know that there are at least twelve lunar calendars regularly used around the world, from the Chinese calendar to the Islamic calendar to the Hindu calendar.
For the purposes of this article, we’re sticking with Chinese New Year celebrations.
Best Lunar New Year celebrations in the US
Across the United States, millions of citizens follow the lunar calendar along with the Gregorian calendar. The largest communities come from East Asia, including China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan.
You might see these festivities listed as Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival. All three titles are talking about the same event.
Communities come together to put on live performances, such as the dragon and lion dance, along with festive parades and traditional foods. While the biggest Lunar New Year celebrations take place outside of the US, there are dozens of massive celebrations in major cities.
In February 2024, communities across the United States will be celebrating the end of the Year of Dragon and the start of the Year of the Snake (2025).
Here’s where to find the largest public Lunar New Year parties and parades in 2025:
- San Francisco (held on Saturday, February 15, 2024)
- New York City (held on Sunday, February 16, 2025)
- Boston (TBA)
- New Orleans (TBA)
- Houston (held on Saturday, February 1, 2025)
- Disneyland (various festivities from January 17 – February 16)
- Chicago (held on Sunday, February 9, 2025)
- Philadelphia (TBA)
- Honolulu (held on January 25, 2025)
