Dragons were prominently featured in the Lunar New Year parade in Manhattan's Chinatown, filled with drums, cymbals, and confetti puffs.

Since it's the Year of the Dragon, dragons had a prominent place at Sunday's Lunar New Year parade in Manhattan's historic Chinatown. Hundreds of celebrants filled the crisp, cold air with the sound of drums, cymbals, and confetti puffs.

There were red lanterns and lions among the roughly twelve groups showing traditional dragon puppets that were as long as twenty meters (65 feet) and were held in connecting segments by as many as eleven people who were strolling below.

A massive golden picture frame bearing the Chinese symbol for "Dragon" on a crimson background was also held aloft by two people.

A file of vintage vehicles, waves of red lanterns, and formations by local businesses, legislators, civic associations, and agencies from New York City were among the parade's other mainstays. Many marchers shouted "Happy New Year" in English while also incorporating customary Cantonese and Mandarin wishes for prosperity in business.

On February 10, Asian communities worldwide began celebrating the Lunar New Year, which corresponds to the Chinese zodiac's Year of the Dragon. The main goals of parades, fireworks, and other Lunar New Year celebrations are to usher in prosperity and drive out ill luck.

Major festivities have already taken place in New York's bigger Chinese immigrant communities in Queens and Brooklyn. Manhattan's parade was set for the weekend, even though the full moon earlier this week marked the conclusion of the symbolic new lunar cycle.