The Chinese New Year once again turns Usera into the epicenter of one of the festivals that brings color to Madrid’s winter. In 2026, the district will celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Fire Horse with a new location: Pradolongo Park, where there will be a fireworks display over the lake and a grand parade the following day that will transform this green lung in the south into an explosion of color, dragons, and red lanterns.
The first big moment will come on Saturday , February 21, at 8 p.m., when Pradolongo Park will be darkened to make way for a fireworks display designed specifically for the Chinese celebration. For about 15 minutes, the sky will be filled with figures and colors inspired by the Eastern imagination, with the lake as a mirror and the shore transformed into a natural grandstand where thousands of people gather every year.
The municipal program also includes DJ sessions, creative workshops, storytelling, exhibitions, and activities for all ages in the area around the bandstand facing the lake, so you can arrive in the afternoon, participate in the cultural activities, and end the day by watching the fireworks display. The experience is rounded off with Asian food stalls, markets, and the now classic Wall of Wishes, where locals and visitors can hang their messages of prosperity for the new year.
The great Chinese New Year parade in Madrid
Editorial credit: Shutterstock II JMVAZQUEZ
On Sunday , February 22, at 12 noon, it will be time for the parade, the central event of the 2026 celebrations. This year, the parade will run entirely through Pradolongo Park: it will start at the Halcón Pradolongo Community Garden, next to the CEAC Maris Stella, and continue to the lake’s breakwater, filling the park’s paths and meadows with spectators.
The procession combines Chinese tradition and imagery: articulated dragons and lions, majestic inflatable horses in honor of the Fire Horse, troupes in costumes brought from China, fans, silk umbrellas, folk dance groups, martial arts schools, and neighborhood and Chinese associations from the district. Live music, drums, gongs, and traditional melodies adapted to more contemporary formats set the pace for a parade that brings together tens of thousands of people every year, as shown by data from previous editions with up to 42,000 attendees at the parade and 25,000 at the fireworks, according to official data shared by the Madrid City Council.