Hundreds gathered to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood Monday night.
According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the horse, which represents achieving success swiftly and smoothly.
The parade featured a traditional lion dance and was filled with cultural performances in the heart of Chinatown near 10th and Race streets.
Michael Ha, owner of QT Vietnamese Sandwich, said his business will be participating in the celebrations this weekend. He has his fireworks ready and said the celebration is all meant to bring good luck.
“It’s one of those things where it’s just festive,” he said. “Some people believe in as far as like warding off spirits, and some people just do it because it’s culturally something that we have been doing for centuries.”
Ha said the celebrations get everyone together to say goodbye to the past year and welcome a new, fresh start moving forward.
“It’s almost like a family thing that you would do every year with your family, if it was Thanksgiving or Christmas,” Ha said.
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