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Year of the Dog Celebrations in San Francisco Culminate with Parade Saturday

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Many downtown streets in San Francisco will be closed along the route of the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade Saturday afternoon and motorists should take alternative routes, organizers said.

Chinese New Year Parade Map
2018 Chinese New Year Parade route in San Francisco

The parade begins at 5:15 pm at Second and Market Streets, proceeds west on Market and then west to Geary Street to Union Square.

It turns north on Powell Street, east on Post Street and north on Kearny Street to Columbus Avenue where the parade will disperse, organizers said.

Streets along the route will be closed to traffic beginning at 4:30 p.m. and will reopen once the parade has passed and the route has been cleaned, according to organizers.

Market Street between Second and Fremont Street and Second Street between Market and Mission Streets will be closed beginning at 4 p.m. to accommodate the parade staging area, organizers said.

miss-chinatown-USA-2018
Jasmine Lee was crowned Miss Chinatown USA on Feb. 22, 2018. (CBS)

The Lunar New Year started Feb. 16 and this year is the Year of the Dog. The Miss Chinatown USA Pageant was held Thursday night and the biggest San Francisco event, the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade, is scheduled to take place Saturday.

On Lok Lifeways held a Lunar New Year celebration for seniors with traditional lion and dragon dances at the Gee Pace Center on Bush Street Friday morning.

The San Francisco police department's lion dance team performed. The team was started in 1988 as an opportunity for community relations. Heather Fong, a former San Francisco police chief, is an alumni of that dance troupe.

At noon, San Francisco interim mayor Mark Farrell joined city officials at the Coalition of Asian American Government Employees' Lunar New Year celebration luncheon at New Asia Restaurant on Pacific Avenue.

 

On Saturday, the San Francisco Symphony holds a Lunar New Year concert at 3 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall as well as a post-concert dinner. The family event draws on ancient and contemporary Asian traditions.

© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

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