Chinese New Year 2017 Pictures: Millions Across The World Celebrate The Year Of The Rooster [PHOTOS]

The Chinese New Year celebrations were not only restricted to China or Chinatowns across the globe as a large number of people from London to San Francisco came out to celebrate the Spring Festival, bringing in the Year of Rooster.

One of the most important traditional celebrations in China and countries with a large Chinese population, the lunar new year is a family holiday where people clean their homes and decorate them with red lanterns and posters of poetic verses.

Big cities across the world saw colorful parades and fireworks as people took to the streets celebrating the new year with rooster decorations. People geographically far away from the country of origin also got an opportunity to participate in the exhibition of China’s traditions and culture.

A major parade took to the streets of Vancouver, Canada, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leading a procession Sunday morning through the city’s historic Chinatown for the annual Chinese New Year Parade. A number of political leaders, public figures and community groups also participated in the festivities along with traditional dancers.

London’s Trafalgar Square hosted thousands of people as the country experienced its biggest ever Chinese New Year celebration, while countries in Southeast Asia also celebrated the festival with great pomp and show.

The Chinese New Year celebrations start on the eve of the lunisolar Chinese calendar’s first day and extend to the Lantern Festival held on the 15th day of the first calendar month. The tradition associated with the festival revolves around preserving luck, exchanging money and spending time with family.

As the world celebrates the festival at a grand scale across the world, here are the festivities in pictures: