Chinatown's Epic Lunar New Year Festivities Begin This Weekend: A Guide

CHINATOWN, NY — In case the series of heart-stopping explosions in the sky Thursday night didn't tip you off, let it now be known: The Year of the Rooster is upon us! And as a tax-paying citizen of this great melting pot of a city, you'd be a fool not to take advantage of your proximity to some of the most awe-inspiring Chinese New Year festivities this side of planet Earth.

The main events will be the Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival on Saturday, Jan. 28, and the Lunar New Year Parade on Sunday, Feb. 5.

For the firecracker event this Saturday, hordes of food vendors, knick-knack sellers, lion dancers, drummers, dancers, jubilant children, etc. will begin gathering in Sara D. Roosevelt Park (near Grand and Chrystie streets) around 11 a.m.

Hundreds of thousands of firecrackers will then be set off at noon. Deafening noise and disorienting smoke and general chaos and joyfulness will ensue.

"Forecast for Saturday calls for sunny skies and temps in the 40s!" organizers said this week. "Can’t ask for better weather to set off all those firecrackers!!"

A "lion dance parade" will follow Saturday's firecracker blitz, lasting until around 3 p.m.

The following streets will be closed between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Jan. 28 to accommodate the event, according to the NYPD:

• Mott Street between Broome Street and Chatham Square
• Baxter Street between Grand Street and Canal Street
• Grand Street between Mulberry Street and Bowery
• Mulberry Street between Hester Street and Worth Street
• Hester Street between Bowery and Centre Street
• Elizabeth Street between Bayard Street and Grand Street
• Bayard Street between Baxter Street and Bowery
• Pell Street between Bowery and Mott Street
• Doyers Street between Pell Street and Bowery (Full Closures)
• Canal Street between Bowery and Baxter Street
• Bowery between Canal Street and Worth Street
• Catherine Street between Division Street and Henry Street
• East Broadway between Forsyth Street and Bowery
• Henry Street between Catherine Street and Market Street (Curb Lanes Only)

Legend has it that the more dumplings you consume at the firecracker fest, the more financial success you'll see in the year ahead — so come prepared to do some serious grease-and-dough damage to your hangover.

Then, the next Sunday, Feb. 5, Chinatown's legendary Lunar New Year Parade — a visual feast of floats and performances and elaborate costumery — will wind its way through the neighborhood from around 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

A taste:

"Show up early to grab a prime spot along the route!" organizers say.

This year's parade will begin at Hester and Mott streets and end at the same park that hosts the firecracker festival. Here's a map of the exact route, courtesy of the neighborhood group Better Chinatown USA:

Lead photo via Patrick Kwan/Flickr