Yesterday Julie and I headed down to Chinatown for the annual Chinese New Year Parade which this year celebrated the 100th anniversary of Chicago’s Chinatown. We weren’t sure what to expect but there was a huge crowd with the parade running through the center of Chinatown. The parade kicked off with a large fireworks display and then marching began. There were dragons, floats and high school bands as well all the elementary schools in the area. We managed to get a good spot about halfway down the route and once the parade began there wasn’t anything keeping the crowd from creeping into the street. No barriers, nothing.

Side Notes:

* Leave it to the Irish to march on a Chinese New Year Day parade.  The Shannon Rovers pipe band was out in full force.
** The rest of the my photographs are on Flickr.