CHICAGO, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Over 30,000 people crowded the streets in Chicago's Chinatown on Sunday evening to watch the annual Chinese New Year Parade, amid a light snowfall.

The parade featured 61 bands, 18 floats, as well as a lion and dragon dance. Several participants wore pig-style hats in celebration of the Spring Festival, which heralds in the Chinese New Year.

The year 2019 is the Year of the Pig on the lunar calendar.

Megan Brandt, a participant in the parade, said she was attending the event for a fifth year in a row.

Speaking at the celebration, Liu Jun, acting Chinese Consul General in Chicago, wished every one good luck and happiness in the year ahead.

The snow is seen as a harbinger of a good year in Chinese culture, Liu said.

Chicago has been hosting annual celebrations of Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, for the last six years.

Apart from the parade on Sunday, other Chinese New Year-themed celebrations have been organized in Chicago over the past two weeks by the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Symphony Center and the Art Institute of Chicago.