San Francisco’s 2026 Chinese New Year Parade and Festival have finally arrived!
This Saturday’s world-famous Chinese New Year Parade has been a quintessential Lunar New Year celebration in SF since 1851. Hundreds of thousands of people turn out to experience the oldest and largest celebration of this kind outside of Asia, featuring elaborate floats, performers, and a showstopping 288-foot-long Golden Dragon.
Throughout the weekend, Chinatown will also be buzzing with an enormous Community Street Fair, featuring more than 120 booths where you can buy souvenirs, snack on delicious food, and enjoy live performances.
SFMTA will close numerous streets and reroute public transport around the festival zones. Keep reading for the breakdown.
Road closures
Below is a summary of road closures over the weekend of March 7-8, 2026. You can refer to the SFMTA website for full details.
March 7: Chinese New Year Parade
The parade starts at Market & 2nd St, proceeding to Geary, Powell, Post, and Kearny, before disbanding at Columbus between Pacific & Washington. It begins at 5:15pm and lasts about 2.5 hours.
The following streets will close from 3pm-9:30pm on Saturday, March 7th, for the Chinese New Year Parade.
Only 2nd Street will close 1 hour earlier at 2pm
- 2nd St., between Market and Mission (closed 2pm-9:30pm)
- Market, between 2nd St & Geary
- Geary, between Market and Powell
- Powell, between Geary and Post
- Post, between Kearny to Powell
- Kearny, between Geary and Pacific
March 7-8: Chinese New Year Community Street Fair
The Community Street Fair takes place on Grant, Washington, Jackson, and Pacific Avenues, between California and Broadway. It will be open from 10am to 4:30pm on Saturday, March 7th, and 9am to 5pm on Sunday, March 8th.
The following streets will close from 11pm on Friday, March 6th, through 11pm on Sunday, March 8th, for the Community Street Fair.
- Grant, between Broadway and California
- Pacific, between Stockton and Columbus
- Jackson, between Stockton and Kearny
- Washington, between Stockton and Kearny
- Commercial, between Grant and Kearny
- Beckett, between Pacific and Jackson
- Ross, between Jackson and Washington
- Wentworth, between Jackson and Washington
- Spofford, between Washington and Sacramento
- Waverly, between Washington and Clay
- Sacramento, between Kearny and Grant
Muni service changes
SFMTA will also reroute Muni around the Chinese New Year Parade and Community Street Fair zones.
See maps and summaries below, but refer to the SFMTA website for a detailed list of service changes.
March 7: Chinese New Year Parade
On Saturday, March 7th, Muni routes affected by the parade will either reroute or turn around before reaching Downtown SF. Routes that typically take Market Street will instead operate on Mission Street, and routes that cross Market Street will be rerouted. While reroute start times vary, most will return to normal when the parade has cleared the affected streets.
If you’re planning to attend the parade via public transport, Muni recommends taking the Market Street Subway to Montgomery Station, which is located near the beginning of the parade. You can also take BART or Muni to Powell Station, which is a few blocks away from the Union Square section of the parade route.
Muni will offer free service, except on cable cars, all day on Saturday.
March 7-8: Chinese New Year Community Street Fair
On both Saturday and Sunday, the 12 Folsom/Pacific Route will reroute around the Community Street Fair. It will miss the Pacific & Grant Ave stop, instead stopping at Pacific & Kearny and Pacific & Stockton.
During the parade on Saturday, beginning around 2pm, it will have an additional reroute as outlined in the previous map.
You can sign up for Muni and Service alerts here.