Thematic sites - Municipality of Milan

Chinese New Year returns to Milan on Sunday 11 February. The festival coincides with the beginning of the Year of the Dragon and for the occasion the traditional Chinese Dragon parade will take place in the city.

Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. It is a time of celebration and renewal, marking the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one. The celebrations last about two weeks and are characterized by a series of traditions and rituals, including cleaning the house, to eliminate the bad luck of the old year and lighting fireworks, to chase away evil spirits.

In Milan, the most important event of the celebrations will be, like every year, the traditional Dragon Parade, which will take place on Sunday 11 February at 14pm in Piazza Sempione. The parade is an exhibition of music, dance and acrobatics involving hundreds of artists and participants, who parade through the streets of the city accompanied by a large papier-mâché dragon.

The traditional Chinese New Year parade has moved to the Arco della Pace in recent years, due to the ever-increasing number of tourists and onlookers who attend the parade every year, and that a narrow street like Paolo Sarpi was no longer able to to contain.