photo blog: Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade

This year I walked with the CAIS float in the Chinatown Lunar New Year's parade. It was quite a privilege and I regret that I might have bumped another parent. My daughter was in the dance troupe in front of the float or I wouldn't have even asked. The last time I was even remotely involved with this parade was at ISTP where basically anyone who wanted to go could walk with the float. (There are now only 5 students in left in the her Chinese class.) Also, the design and building of the float was outsourced to former ISTP families at that time. CAIS does everything with parent volunteers and the kids that ride on the float and the parents who walk are tightly controlled. Also, the parade itself regulates how many can be in the parade.

The parade itself is a lot of hurry up and wait. It is a little confusing because the floats only appear at the last minute in three columns and the participants have to load up before it takes off. It can be a little like the battle of the bands with each float blaring out its music so the participants can practice. Plus there are real marching bands and dragon teams and drums practicing.

There is a surprising amount of power used in each float and each truck carries a large gas powered generator. The CAIS float used multiple halogen work lights for its basic illumination plus the OX's head and tail moved. There is a substantial amount of electrical plus the mechanical engineering. Another major consideration is safety, especially for the small children. The CAIS float had guard rails made of pipe all around it for use as handrails and keep the children inside. And since there are small children, the float carried a portable toilet and not the kind for potty training but one that sits on a 5 gal bucket, plus a frame and screen for privacy. Luckily it was only used once but it was used!

For photography, it helps to be one of the first floats because it was basically night before we even started moving. Most of the illumination was from the truck headlights on high beam and that illumination is extremely uneven. There is a section in front of Macy's where the TV crews film which is extremely well lit. But the float participants are not allow to take video or still shots in that zone (or the float will be penalized in the competition). Never mind that all the spectators are doing exactly this. But those are the rules. So photography and videography was challenging because it was extremely dark but with some wildly bright highlights and you and your subject are slowly walking down through the smoke of fireworks and firecrackers. You have to use a flash but the dropoff is fast and it can't overpower the uneven illumination. If I ever do this again, I'd like to try to use a camera with extremely good high ISO performance.

The previous year the weather was really terrible with high winds, but luckily the worst rains stopped just before the parade time. This year, it had been raining all week, plus it rained the next day, but the weather was mild for the parade itself. But because of the terrible experience of the previous year, the dance troupe didn't wear their normal fancy costumes but rather wore clothes in which they could stay warm if the weather deteriorated. Last year, one of the CAIS dancers made the front page of the SF Chronicle. This year CAIS was not as fortunate.

The float itself told the story of how the rat stole the honor of being the first animal in the zodiac by riding on the back of the Ox. But it was too subtle because you could hardly see the little kids in rat outfits on the top of the Ox. The float had to be explained to me and I already know this story. I think the Head of School or an adult should have worn the rat outfit and rode on the Ox's back because he would have been visible to the crowd. Though dimensionally correct, under the dark, smoky conditions, the little kids did not stand out enough to get the story across.