The moon, a waxing gibbous on its way to the height of its cycle, was visible over Uptown Saturday afternoon as the Argyle Lunar New Year parade made its way down the street, a week after the holiday began.
The more than 40-year-old parade — which kicked off at the corner of West Argyle Street and North Winthrop Avenue — was just part of the slew of celebrations set for the area Saturday, which included performances at various local businesses and activities for kids.
Leading the charge were the lion dancers, donning their iconic costumes at the front of the parade.
Among the several people switching in and out of the costume was Timothy Huang, a 25-year-old Chinatown resident. He first stepped inside the suit two years ago when he got roped into it by loved ones who also lion dance.
Huang said he watches the feet of the people in front of him when he’s at the head of the suit because the small window isn’t very useful.
He said it’s physically “taxing” — performers who take on the costume’s headpiece have more training to do but the people in the back have to have more endurance, Huang said — but worth it when he sees the reactions of the cheering crowds when the head of the costume jumps up and down.
“It’s very tiring but it’s definitely fun,” Huang said. “I enjoy putting the effort in… You don’t really see this every day.”
Hannah Gallagher and Katherine Wolf, teachers at Goudy Technology Academy, also donned masks at the event, though theirs were of dragons.
It was their third time marching in the parade after they braved the “romantic” snow of 2022’s parade.
Wolf said she grew up in an acrobatic circus where her family of firefighters taught her how to eat fire — an activity she said she enjoyed doing with her grandmother — and through that, she got into costuming.
Since Wolf already made masks for the theater department run by Gallagher, she started making them for the school’s appearance in the parade as well. She made them for the year of the tiger, but took last year off after finding a good rabbit mask proved difficult.
The paper masks designs were bought on Etsy, though they averaged about five hours each to put together with scoring, folding, gluing and other means of assembly tossed into the mix.
“I’ve always just been very inspired by costumes,” Wolf said. “Everyday is a theme and I just dress to the theme.”
Nebula Li, an Uptown resident, stopped by the festivities before grabbing Korean barbecue with some friends who were marching in the parade. He said it was his way to celebrate with chosen family since his relatives are spread across the country.
Standing on Broadway donning a red puffer jacket and some gold accessories — traditional colors often worn during the holiday to bring prosperity and good luck — he said the colors were both a way to show pride in his heritage and a reminder that the holiday is also about helping others.
“Wearing red for me is pride in being Chinese, pride in being Asian American and not have a scarcity mindset so we can think about all the good we can do this year of the dragon,” Li said.
While he said it was his “millionth” Lunar New Year parade — he marched in Chinatown’s parade with the first openly queer group to take part in it — this was only his second time at the Argyle parade, which he said had a more local feel.
He also commended the wide scope of cultures celebrated in the parade given the holiday often gets narrowed down, even in name, to be a Chinese cultural event.
“They’re both really fantastic,” Li said. “I like that this particular march has more uplifting of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian cultures. I’m Chinese but I think it’s really great that Lunar New Year is shifting to be more inclusive.”
Rene Carizey, a former Uptown transplant to Oak Park, brought his 12- and 15-year-old kids to the North Side neighborhood for exactly that reason.
The last couple years he had taken his family to the Chinatown parade, but returned to the Uptown version because it felt more “familiar” and, being Vietnamese, he said he felt more represented.
“It’s nice to bring my kids out here to see their culture,” Carizey said. “And they love it. … The community here is special. It’s nice to have this little pocket of Vietnamese culture.”
That aside, he said he enjoyed being able to get closer to the floats at the further north parade.
“It’s a lot more intimate,” Carizey said. “This feels like home.”
