SF celebrates Year of the Monkey at Chinese New Year Parade

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The streets of Chinatown were filled with the sounds of celebration pageantry of the Chinese New Year Parade.

2016 is the Year of the Monkey and for this Chinese New Year Parade, they were everywhere - from massive monkeys fixtures on floats to kids dressed in monkey hats.

"This is the first time taking the kids and we're having over the top fun. We love this city, I cannot even tell you how much we love living here!" said Emily Chin of San Francisco.

San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade is the oldest and largest event of its kind outside of Asia.

This year's parade featured about 20 elaborate floats, several marching bands and hundreds of people marching or dancing along the parade route.

The parade is a celebration of Chinese culture and tradition dating back to the 1860s.

It's not complete without a string of firecrackers signaling the entrance of the gigantic dragon, a 270 foot dancing puppet that always closes the show.

The parade began at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday. It traveled up Post, down Sutter and across Chinatown on Kearny. It ended at Columbus Avenue.