Riverside Lunar New Year Festival

  

click photo to enlarge		 The first year for this festival was 2011, 5 years ago and wow has it grown. That first year the parade was very short and there were not many people there. This year the place was very packed and the number of vendors had grown tremendously. They did not do a very good job at all keeping the crowd out of the street and people were just coming up and going out in front of you to the point you could not see unless you did the same thing. It will be our last time going to this parade unless they get it under control.

click photo to enlarge		 Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival is one of the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is commonly called “Lunar New Year”, because it is based on the lunisolar Chinese calendar based on the phases of the moon vs the Gregorian calendar which is based on the solar year. The New Year festival is centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors.

click photo to enlarge
               click photo to enlarge