On New Year, a Dog Has Its Day : Celebrations: Tradition blends with multiculturalism in Monterey Park’s Flower Market Festival. Alhambra will usher in 4692, the Year of the Dog, on Saturday.

A yellow dragon swirled furiously at the head of the Monterey Park Chinese New Year’s festival parade Sunday, dancing around the string of firecrackers that blasted in the street and up the wall of the Quang Hoa Supermarket on Garvey Avenue.

To the tunes of the Alhambra High School marching band, a Chinese lion reared its head, rolled its eyes and charged toward the store. Shaking its mane, it devoured a head of lettuce tied to a red envelope of lay-see , or lucky money that had been tossed by store employees.

According to Chinese tradition, the red envelopes and lettuce signify fortune, the firecrackers chase away evil spirits and the dragon and lion, fearsome as they appear, bring good luck.

That luck apparently held back the storms that showered Los Angeles on Friday and Sunday night. Only a light drizzle dampened festivities during the weekend.

About 50,000 people lined Garvey Avenue for the third annual New Year Flower Market Festival in Monterey Park to celebrate the start of Year of the Dog 4692, said Esther Pang, one of the event’s coordinators.

The two-day celebration included the parade, a preliminary portion of the Miss Asia Pacific Pageant, music, dance, and displays by 50 businesses of everything from traditional narcissus flowers to Taiwanese pop music CDs. “This brings me back in touch with my cultural roots,” said Thompson Chen, 26, one of the 21 dragon dancers who hoisted the parade’s satin serpent. A native of Hong Kong, Chen said the celebration in Monterey Park evokes memories of the citywide festivals of his childhood.

Therese Rincon, Miss Monterey Park, waved to parade-goers from atop the city firetruck, and said the celebration was a first for her.

“I’m very excited because I’m not Chinese. This is so new to me. It’s so exciting,” she said. “Now, I even want to learn the language.”

Evelyn Lo, a Monterey Park princess, said that’s the objective of the festival.

“I think it unites the people,” she said. “Not just the Chinese people, but the whole Monterey Park community.”

Nowhere was the cultural mix more evident than on the music stage. On Sunday morning Aztec singers from Mark Keppel High School were followed by the Roosevelt High School Latin Jazz Band and the graceful traditional dances of the Ming Yuan Institute dancers.

Later in the day, the Amazing Zion travelers sang plaintive gospel music before the Mad Chinamen took the stage to belt out pop tunes in Chinese. On Saturday, Howard Ma won first place and $1,000 in the Karaoke contest.

Displays of fresh foliage, including vivid red firecracker flowers, ginger flowers and birds of paradise brightened the street, in keeping with the flower market theme.

The highlight of the horticultural festival was a display of traditional carved narcissus bulbs by master carver Quin-Shin Gong from Monterey Park’s sister city, Quanzhou, China. The bulbs blossom into fragrant bouquets that are called “water fairies” in Chinese.

This weekend, the celebration continues in Alhambra with a street festival and parade Saturday.

The festival, featuring two entertainment stages and 150 business, arts and crafts vendors, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Valley Boulevard in Alhambra between Garfield Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard.

The parade, with 150 entries, including 12 floats, will begin at noon on Valley Boulevard at Del Mar Avenue in San Gabriel and conclude at noon at Garfield and Valley in Alhambra.

The celebration includes a four day carnival today through Sunday at Moor Field across from the street fair, and a Chinese banquet Friday, at the Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in San Gabriel.