BAY AREA USHERS IN YEAR
OF THE DOG WITH SEVERAL EVENTS

By Kelly Pakula, Bay City News Service

February 1, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - Bay Area residents can partake in several Chinese New Year events scheduled to take place in San Francisco throughout the next couple of weeks to help usher in the Year of the Dog.

Currently taking place near the Walter U. Lum Place, located at the intersection of Washington and Clay streets, is the Chinese New Year Carnival, according to Karen Eng, public relations director for the San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade.

The carnival will be held daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Thursday.

At 8 p.m. today the San Francisco Symphony will celebrate the Chinese New Year with a show at the Davies Symphony Hall, located at 201 Van Ness Ave.

"This unique event brings together the best of Eastern and Western music, artistry and culture, and we are delighted that the Bay Area community has embraced this festive and entertaining event with such enthusiasm and support," Jessa Wu, chairman of the SFS Chinese New Year Celebration, said in a statement.

The Chinese New Year events continue with the Miss Chinatown USA Pageant on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts located at 3301 Lyon St, according to Eng.

The pageant has been around for nearly 50 years, with Chinese American women from the Bay Area and the rest of the nation competing for the opportunity to win scholarships.

The pageant winners will receive cash prizes and various gifts including a $10,000 cash prize for Miss Chinatown USA, a $5,000 cash prize for Miss Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and a $3,000 cash prize for Miss San Francisco Chinatown.

On Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Coronation Ball will take place at the Hilton San Francisco and Towers Hotel located 333 O'Farrell St., Eng said.

The culmination of the Chinese New Year events will take place on Feb. 11 with the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade, according to Eng.

The parade is the largest of its kind outside of Asia, with over 100 different groups participating in the parade each year. The parade features "various marching bands, corporate sponsored floats and community floats," Eng said.

The parade will begin near the intersection of Second and Market streets and will end near the intersection of Jackson and Kearny streets, Eng said. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be capped off with the presentation of the Golden Dragon at 8 p.m.

The dragon is over 201 feet long and will be accompanied by 650,000 firecrackers at the end of the parade, Eng said. "It's one of the highlights," Eng said. "It's always a great excitement. There's a lot of tradition.'' Eng said what makes the parade so special is that "it's one of the few nighttime parades in the U.S.''

Eng expects that at least 500,000 people will line up along the parade route, and that millions of people will view the parade on television.

According to Eng, children from local elementary schools will participate in the parade. Eng expects that many of the children will dress up in floppy ears and wagging tails in honor of the Year of the Dog.

"The dog to us means loyalty, reliability, and guarding one's home," Eng said.

More information on this year's Chinese New Year events can be found on the Web site, http://www.chineseparade.com.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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