Chinese Lunar New Year Festival & Parade
Sunday, February 25, 2024
The Miners Foundry Cultural Center is not the organizer for this event. Please contact the organizer directly with questions at [email protected].
The Miners Foundry Cultural Center and the Community Asian Theatre of the Sierras (CATS) are pleased to present the Nevada City Chinese Lunar New Year Festival and Parade to celebrate the Year of the Dragon on Sunday, February 25 from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Admission to this family-friendly event is free. This will be our first parade and celebration in three years due to the pandemic. Please join us!
Please Note: The parade begins at 12pm at Robinson Plaza on Union Street and will end on Spring Street where the Lion and Dragon dancing will take place immediately following the parade.
Revelers may follow the Lion and Dragon from Commercial Street to Spring Street. After their performance, more entertainment will take place at the Miners Foundry, for an afternoon of fun for the whole family!
Food vendors will be on site at the Foundry: Kaliko’s Hawaiian Kitchen and K&P Kickin Kettle Korn. The Foundry Bar will serve up Asian-inspired drinks and yummy desserts!
There will be Asian-themed arts and crafts and gifts for sale, a kid’s table, Chinese tea ceremony demonstrations, author and filmmaker Bill George on the Chinese Gold Rush and railroad history, dragon horoscope tattoos, and more!
We are seeking parade entries, entertainers, vendors, exhibitors, sponsors, and lots of volunteers. More information can be found on the CATS website by clicking here.
The parade starts at the Robinson Plaza on Union Street (by the Nevada City Chamber office and the large Pelton Wheel), going up Commercial Street, making a left turn down Broad Street, making a right turn down Bridge Street (Bonanza Market), and then onto Spring Street where the Lion and Dragon dancing will take place!
Our parade Grand Marshal is Eliza Tudor, Executive Director of the Nevada County Arts Council. She will be joined by her Board and staff. Parade units include Chinese ceremonial Lion Dancers and a 72’ Chinese Dragon from Eastern Ways Martial Arts of Sacramento, Grass Valley Taiko drummers, second and third graders from Bell Hill Academy, “Mulan,” and other community entries.
Chinese New Year Festivals are rare in rural communities! We’re proud to present this 10th family-friendly celebration, honoring the early Chinese Gold Rush pioneers and railroad workers of the Sierras. Nevada County was once home to thousands of Chinese during the Gold Rush, and this event honors their legacy. The community parade begins at 12:00pm from the bottom of Commercial Street — the site of the old Chinese Quarter during the Gold Rush. Revelers should line Commercial Street.
We thank the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, the City of Nevada City, and the Nevada City Arts Council for their collaboration.