Gung-Hay-Fat-Choy! The annual Chinese New Year parade was hosted at Union Square in San Francisco on Saturday, February 7.

The show was broadcast by KTVU, with commentating provided by Ben Fong-Torres and Julie Haener, and the coverage began at 6:00pm and ended at 8:00pm. Fong-Torres, who grew up in Oakland, occasionally came down to watch the parade with his family when he was a kid. He has been hosting the event for 13 years now. Ever since he was a child, he has been enticed by the Saint Mary’s choir that is a part of the parade, and to this day he would still leave everything about the parade exactly as it is.

Fong-Torres says the parade is steeped in tradition and that the organizers have a tried and true method for running the program.

“They are not going to mess around with that formula,” Fong-Torres said. “They have got it down.”

But for those who attended the actual event, festivities started a half-hour earlier. At 5:30pm, many city officials, including SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, rode by in a motorcade and waved to the many excited spectators.

Speaking of spectators, this year the streets of Market, Geary, Post and Kearny were much more crowded than usual. People were watching from store windows and rooftops because there was absolutely zero room on the ground.

“Every year the [crowd] gets bigger,” says Ken Nansen, a San Francisco native.

The clear skies probably were a major factor in the marked increase in size of attendance at the event.

Joyce Yamasaki, also from San Francisco, says she attends every year as long as it is not raining. When it is, she watches from home on the television. Once all of the officials had made their cameos, the real show began in grand, but traditional, style, with lions dancing to the crackle of firecrackers and the piercing songs played by the marching bands. Then, at the start of the broadcast, the new 238 foot dragon made an awe-inspiring appearance, seemingly rising out of the din and smoke caused by the firecrackers being set off in the street.

Once the dragon roared by, it was time for majestic floats. Filled with bright, flashing lights and people singing, they were truly a spectacle to behold.

Trista Wang, from nearby Burlingame, noted that the highlight of the parade for her was the float which had girls in gold coins on it.

The parade continued with many other schools, clubs and organizations proudly and triumphantly marching through the jam-packed streets. Towards the end, a gigantic float of an ox stampeded by to symbolize that 2009 is the year of the ox. As the ox denotes, may we all have a prosperous year as long as we are strong and hard working.