I just came from a big New Year's Celebration and Parade in my town where we have a large Chinese Population and celebrated the New Year of the Horse.  We feasted on Dim Sum, watched the parade, cheered for people, and put red envelopes in the mouths of the lions when they danced by.

There was much throwing of confetti and these giant 'pop tubes' that would spray it high in the air.  Sometimes the wind would pick it up and it would fly up and not land.  There was music and friendliness, it was a good time.

This year is not only the horse, but specifically the Year of the Wood Horse.  Other Horse years - 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2026

Celebrities Born in the Year of the Horse
Louisa May Alcott, Chopin, Davy Crockett, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Sandra Day O'Connor, Rembrandt, Teddy Roosevelt, Sir Isaac Newton, Barbara Streisand, Cindy Crawford, Cynthia Nixon, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Jason Biggs, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta, Leonard Bernstein, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Rembrandt, Ashton Kutcher, Emma Watson, Josh Hartnett, Katie Holmes, Kristen Stewart, Kobe Bryant, Genghis Khan, Emperor Kangxi and Yongzheng of China’s Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911)

Wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year who celebrates the Chinese Calendar.

(Plus 4711 just sound cool)

Are you do anything to celebrate?

They had Dragons running the streets chasing pearls.

These are special red envelopes that we use to give the dancing lions money for luck: (Can someone translate it?)

There were pretty ladys on floats:

People everywhere shopping, watching and smiling.  You can see some of the 'popped' confetti falling:

We had bands and people marching and dancing with flags:

This really cool gilded carriage with lions came through.  Not sure who was supposed to be in it though:

There were dancing horses from Mexico:

Yes, we saw all three flags displayed.

We had people supporting human and civil rights:

We even had Parents suporting their gay kids:

That looks fun. 37864 sounds cooler though. :P

I celebrated on Friday. Due to bad weather and timing the only thing we could do was get panda express. I think you had a bit better celebration lol.

Well, that can be rather tasty.  But duuuuude, this chicken stuff dim sum Bao today was so freaking good!  Kind of hard to explain so bare with me, but basically ginger with lemongrass in like a chicken pot pie form, then the whole thing is put in a sticky dough and steamed.  It was quite spectacular.  It was the hit of the day.

Also, had really good shrimp balls cooked on Sugar Cain.  Some duck, shrimp noodles – that look kinda bad – we call them ‘slimy noodles’ but really good.  A seaweed salad, and a few other things - probably about 20 in all,  I can’t remember.  Plus cake!

Dim sum is a really fun style of Chinese food if you get a chance to try it.

Ah, so this is why foreigners are always asking "where is the parade with dragons and lions?", haha. Interesting. :)

Here we celebrate it a bit different I would say, we visit fairs and I think celebrate it more like Christmas in the USA/Europe. Stay at home with your families, eat food and having a cosy time.

And for example in Beijing we have temple fairs all over the place, and you can visit many different temples and pray and/or go around the fairs and watch live performances, like dances, magic shows, music shows etc. Eat different kind of food.

On the New Years eve we bake Jiao zi (dumplings) with the family and eat it and give presents (red envelopes with money), and then we go out to watch the fireworks. The fireworks and the celebration continue for about 15 days, and ends with the festival of lanterns.

I think this whole celebration you went to looks Cantonese, and the food you mention is also Cantonese. I think it's more like Hong Kong celebration in your Chinatown. Maybe I will go to Hong Kong next new years and see how it is.

Interesting thread, thanks! And happy new year! :D