On Sunday February 22nd Central Florida hosted its 14th annual Lunar New Year Dragon Parade. This year the cherished parade hosted thousands attendees from Central Florida and surrounding regions to usher in the Lunar New Year. Central Florida Dragon Parade is an annual event put together by Mills 50 – City of Orlando Mainstreet District, Asia Trend, REACH of Central Florida and YESS.
The Lunar New Year is a Spring festival celebrated by nearly 2 billion people globally each year mainly in East and Southeast Asia, over the past several decades however celebrations have spread worldwide as diaspora communities have been eager to share the festivities with their neighbors. Lunar New Year celebrations often feature upbeat drumming accompanied by fireworks and highly coordinated Lion and Dragon dances.
The Central Florida Dragon Parade has proudly hosted dance troupes from local organizations including the Wah Lum Temple and the CHARGE Dragon Boat team of CAACF to name a few. In addition to dance troupes, local businesses and community organizations showcased their members, talents and traditional cloths throughout the parade as well. Even Woody and Winnie Woodpecker with Universal Orlando Resort were sporting traditional Hanfu in celebration of the parade!
Grateful to ADP for their generous support again as a title sponsor. Dragon Sponsors: City of Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan, Orlando Magic, Bank of America, and Gyukatsu Rose. Gold Sponsors: City of Orlando District 3 Commissioner Roger Chapin, Maaswinkel Law P.A., OUC – The Reliable One, Universal Orlando Resort, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Overseas Community Affairs Council, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Miami (Taiwan in Miami), Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Greater Orlando TCCGO 大奧蘭多臺灣商會, Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association, Inc., and Orlando Elks 1079.
Dozens of volunteers from organizations like REACH of Central Florida came out in full support of this event, a testimony to the continued spirit of community service and cultural awareness the Central Florida Dragon Parade has been cultivating in our local high schools for the past 14 years.
Local elected officials and their staff made guest appearances in the parade including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, District 4 Commissioner Patty Sheehan, State Senator Linda Stewart and Representative Maxwell Frost. Orange County mayoral candidate and former Representative Stephanie Murphy who herself is Vietnamese-American and Orlando mayoral candidate and current State Representative Dr. Anna Eskamani who herself is Iranian-American were both in attendance as well.
The parade concluded with a Lunar New Year festival featuring over 40 vendors and food booths with cuisines ranging from Thailand to Korea. The festival took place in the Edoboy parking lot in the heart of the Mills-50 district which had also hosted several Lunar New Year festivities in weeks prior. In addition to food vendors, attendees were able to browse Korean and Japanese merchandise in addition to works from local artisans.
The Lunar New Year Dragon Parade continues to be a community staple in bringing Lunar New Year festivities to Central Florida, providing a space for communities to come together to celebrate the diversity that makes our city beautiful.
To learn more information about the event, visit the website: CentralFloriDadragonParade.org
To view additional photos and videos of this year’s festivities, visit their Facebook and Instagram page: www.facebook.com/Orlando.Dragon.Parade and www.instagram.com/dragonparadecfl
