Overview
- Chicago’s annual Lunar New Year parade on March 1 featured 64 groups marching north along Wentworth Avenue and ended under the Chinatown arch.
- Spectators there watched lion dancers, floats and local marching bands before officials fired confetti and attendees moved on to dine and shop nearby.
- Boston’s Chinatown marked the holiday the same day with about 10 lion dance groups organized by Chinatown Main Street and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England, according to CCBA President Felix Lui.
- Performers in both cities stopped at storefronts to snap lettuce and toss oranges, rituals believed to bring prosperity and luck.
- Boston’s Gund Kwok, described as the first all-women Asian lion and dragon dance troupe in the U.S., added a horse-costume routine set to a remixed version of “Beat It.”