Chinese New Year is the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar and is the most important holiday in Chinese culture, filled with fun, food and festivities. Every year, Chinese New Year falls on a different day. In 2017, the holiday will be take place on January 28. If you happen to be in New York during Chinese New Year, here are 8 events (the number “8” is good luck in China) and places where you can join in on the celebrations.
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Best Things to Do for Chinese New Year in New York
Photo: Monica Muller/Flickr
1. New York Philharmonic
Usher in the year of the Rooster with the New York Philharmonic in a special concert that features beloved Chinese folk songs, Puccini’s Turandot, a new trumpet concerto, Joie Eternelle (Eternal Joy), and Ravel’s Bolero. The concert takes place at David Geffen Hall on January 31 at 7:30pm. Tickets range from $35 to $110 and are available for purchase at nyphil.org.
Address: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, David Geffen Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York
2. 18th Annual Lunar New Year Parade & Festival
Join in this major annual celebration, which features a street party that includes an assortment of vendors, food and festivities. The parade includes stunning visuals and impressive performances as it makes its way through the main streets of Little Italy and Chinatown. The parade takes place on February 5 and starts at 1pm in Sara D. Roosevelt Park.
Address: Chrystie Street & Forsyth Street, New York
3. Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival
On January 28, the Better Chinatown Society lights 600,000 firecrackers in Sara D. Roosevelt Park to welcome the first day of the new year and ward off evil spirits. In addition to pyrotechnics, entertainment will include lion dances and decorations giveaways, craft vendors and food booths where guests can sample different Asian treats. Supposedly the more dumplings you eat at the celebration, the more money you’ll make in the year ahead.
Address: Chrystie Street & Forsyth Street, New York
4. 2017 Westchester Chinese New Year Festival
The Westchester Association of Chinese Americans is hosting its 2017 Chinese New Year Festival. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Culture and Traditions of the Chinese New Year Festival”, and will feature samples of gourmet Chinese dishes provided by local restaurants and bakeries, along with art shows, calligraphy, Chinese painting, martial arts demonstrations, and Chinese musical instruments performances. The event takes place on February 25 from 2pm to 6pm and tickets will cost between $15 and $100.
Address: Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, 753 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase
5. Food and the Chinese American Journey
Join author Anne Mendelson along with Kian Lam Kho, a cookbook author and co-curator of MOCA’s current exhibition, Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in American, as they discuss differing iterations of American-based Chinese food within the context of changing political and social climates. The event takes place on December 7 from 6:30 to 8:30pm and tickets costs $10 to $40.
Address: Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street, New York
6. Lunar New Year Celebration
To celebrate the year of the rooster, the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts is hosting the prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, which will perform an all-new celebration of Chinese arts commemorating the Year of the Rooster. The performance will feature red lions, golden dragons and white peacocks frolicking to the sounds of traditional instruments while dancers and acrobats showcase the culture of one of the most vibrant communities in Brooklyn. The event takes place on January 22 from 3 to 5pm. Tickets cost $25.
Address: Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Walt Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College, 2900 Campus Road, Brooklyn
7. Shen Yun Performing Arts
Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company based in New York. From January 11-15, their professional performers will entertain with traditional Chinese ethnic and folk dances, an orchestra, and exquisite costumes and backdrops, while sharing the story of a divine land of heroes and sages, dragons and phoenixes, emperors and immortals. Tickets range from $80 to $300.
Address: The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York
8. Lunar New Year Festival
Bring friends and family to The Met Fifth Avenue, where they will honor and celebrate the year of the rooster with performances, interactive gallery activities, and artistic-led workshops for all ages. The exhibit is free with Museum admission; children under 12 accompanied by an adult enter free. It runs from 11am to 5pm on February 5.
Address: The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York
This article was written by Kamala Kirk.