I have covered Lunar New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood for The Guardsman two years in a row, and it's the highlight of my spring. The day starts with a parade, but the real draw is eating, drinking, and watching people light off fireworks. The disregard for personal and public safety is profound, and leaves you with a sense of anarchist civic pride. I would highly recommend earplugs.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
San Francisco city Sheriff Paul Miyamoto waving to the crowd at the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
The view of the parade from the Portsmouth Square pedestrian bridge during Lunar New Year in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
Crowds in Chinatown watch the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco. Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
Crowds in Chinatown watch the Lunar New Year parade as fireworks detonate overhead. San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
A group of young performers complete the last leg of the parade on Columbus Avenue at the Lunar New Year parade. San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
Scenes from the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
Scenes from the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
Scenes from the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
Scenes from the Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Stories
The Guardsman
2026
An especially loud firework sends people fleeing with their ears covered in Chinatown during the Lunar New Year festivities. San Francisco, Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
Caption: What results is a collection of mundane moments from decidedly non-mundane individuals—a mixture of quiet, strange, and chaotic instances that mirror the organization that bore them. What stood out to me was the depth of history contained within the order—from early sex education pamphlets the sisters distributed in the Castro district, to hearing the sisters' perspective on the struggles queer people face in modern times, I got the sense that whatever we were experiencing now, the sisters had experienced it in some form before.
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