The Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council in conjunction with the Toishan Benevolent Association organized the 2023 Oakland Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade. With the signing of Assembly Bill No. 2596, the Lunar New Year became an official holiday in California, and we were compelled to honor that action with this celebration! This was the first parade in Oakland's Chinatown in 50 years.

We had 62 teams register for the parade, with almost a 1,000 people. We had a diverse range of participants. In addition to Chinese Americans, there were also Vietnamese Americans, Hmong Americans, Indian Americans, African Americans, native Americans, LGBTQ and Latino Americans.

We were honored to have Evan Low, the State Assemblymember who sponsored the bill, join us. Some of our supporters were Alameda County Supervisor Lena Tam, Mayor Sheng Thao, Oakland Council members Nikki Fortunato Bas and Janani Ramachandran and the new Sheriff of Alameda County, Yesenia Sanchez.

The event was supported by many great volunteers and community organizations. It was a great celebration, and we're already strategizing on how to make it bigger and better next year. Thanks to everyone who helped to make it such a success!