This year, on February 10 people across the world will celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, the most widely celebrated traditional Chinese festival. Also known as the Spring Festival, this fifteen day festival begins on the first day of the lunar new year, and ends on the fifteenth day of the new year with the Lantern Festival. This upcoming year is the Year of the Snake, and the celebrations throughout NYC promise to offer a great opportunity to enjoy the culture, color, and parades of the city’s estimated 680,000 Chinese inhabitants.The Lunar New Year is celebrated in several Asian countries, and for 2013, The Korea Society, Japan Society, Asia Society, China Institute, and the Rubin Museum of Art have come together for CelebrAsia NYC, a collaboration introducing children to Asian cultures. Be sure to see what they have on throughout the year.On February 2, The Korea Society kicks off the New Year celebrations by hosting a Korean New Year Family Day, offering traditional foods, games, Korean stories, and the chance to enjoy crafts such as Korean kite making.New York’s Asia Society is ringing in the Lunar New Year on February 9 with Moon Over Manhattan. Inspired by traditions from across Asia, this series of craft workshops and performances begins with an interactive class teaching Mandarin children’s songs and continues with a Lion Dance performed by Kung-Fu experts, with ongoing arts and crafts classes.
The Firecracker and Cultural Festival on February 10 offers an exciting day out. Originally intended to ward off evil spirits, the firecracker detonation – attended by community leaders and curious residents alike – has become a popular celebration, with all-day performances of dance troupes and cultural arts taking to the stage. Chinatown really comes to life at this time of year.Also on the 10th, The China Institute has a free Lion Dance demonstration, and then, for a fee, a fantastic range of crafts: calligraphy, couplet making, dumpling making, and paper cutting workshops, all inside the China Institute. Workshops will run twice in the afternoon, you can register for the classes on the China Institute website. Another fun children’s event is at the New York Historical Society which is holding a Sunday Story Time for ages 4 – 7, celebrating Chinese New Year and Chinese stories.New York Philharmonic is holding a musical Chinese New Year Celebration of their own, with an evening of Chinese music and dance on February 12. Tickets are priced from $35 to $175, and include a range of music by leading Chinese artists and performers.In Flushing, Queens, things are no slower; the area’s large and diverse community is rivaling Chinatown in Manhattan, and the Chinese New Year celebrations this year begin with a New Year Dance Sampler and go on for a month, with February 16 set aside for Flushing’s own New Year Parade. 4,000 people take part annually, joined by dancers, musicians, fireworks and, of course, dragon dancers throughout the parade.The 14th Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival on February 17 has become a focal point for ringing in the new year, with the parade starting in Little Italy and making its way through streets of Chinatown. The event starts at one o’clock on Hester Street before moving down Mott Street, swinging around East Broadway and making its way back up Eldridge and Forsyth Streets. With decorated floats, musicians, marching bands, and acrobats, the spectacle lives up to traditional images of Chinese festivals, and offers a great excuse to join with the estimated 5,000 attendees to welcome in the New Year. A word of warning though: it tends to get very cold in February, and it does get crowded and noisy. If you’re not a fan of such things, it might be better to watch the scene in some of the side streets, where dragons float in and out of Chinese stores to bring prosperity to the shops.Throughout New York City, there are plenty of other chances to take in and learn more about this festival. The New York Chinese Cultural Center is putting on a two day celebration of Chinese Culture, including arts and crafts, folk dancing, and Peking Opera. The Museum of Chinese in America, meanwhile, has a whole range of activities, including family friendly tours of the museum – great for kids –, walking tours of Chinatown, allowing you to learn more about this historic and bustling district, and a series of performances and workshops. A traditional Lion Dance workshop includes a performance and then the chance to learn all about this ancient dance, while Mandarin classes for children are being run by local author Michele Wong. Then there are more dance demonstrations and workshops, and a range of drop-in arts and crafts classes.And lastly, food – if you’re planning on eating out for Chinese New Year, Chinatown is a natural place to go. Oriental Garden on Elizabeth Street is a favorite: fantastic food with good reviews, helpful staff, and prices that aren’t crazy. New York International has a guide to Chinese culture and eating throughout the city, so whatever you get up to, have fun, and happy new year.