Posted on: January 29, 2013
Los Angeles Chinatown Celebrates the Year of the Snake
Los Angeles Chinatown’s New Year Festival celebrations include a parade, cultural performances and more
Los Angeles Chinatown will celebrate Chinese New Year with exhibitions and events. // (c) 2013 ExperienceLA.com
Los Angeles Chinatown will celebrate the start of the Year of the Snake with its annual Chinese New Year Festival, which traditionally draws more than 125,000 spectators to the weekend-long event. This year, the Chinese New Year Festival will take place Feb. 16 from 12 to 8 p.m. and Feb. 17 from 12 to 5 p.m. in Chinatown’s Central Plaza.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, at 11 p.m., the festivities will kick off with a special midnight ceremony at Thien Hau Temple. Attendees can experience traditional incense burning, make offerings, watch traditional lion dancers and feel the excitement of 500,000 firecrackers in action.
The following weekend, the Chinese New Year Festival and 114th Annual Golden Dragon Parade will take place — beginning at 1 p.m. on Feb. 16 — featuring floats, decked-out cars, dancers and bands. Following the parade, attendees can enjoy cultural performances, children’s activities and hands-on cultural workshops for all ages. This year, with the help of festival volunteers, Los Angeles Chinatown will attempt to break the world record for paper folding, assembling 80,000 individually folded paper pieces to create a large paper snake sculpture.