How to celebrate Lunar New Year in and around Boston

Find out where to see lion dances, cultural performances, and eat traditional foods.

A lion dance at a past Lunar New Year celebration at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. Courtesy of PEM

3 minutes to read

This year’s Lunar New Year officially begins on Saturday, Feb. 10, and rings in the Year of the Dragon. While it’s often referred to as the Chinese New Year, the holiday is celebrated in Asian countries including China, Vietnam, Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia. Boston has the fifth largest Chinese population in the U.S. Read on for more details about celebrations taking place in and around the city, like the annual Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown and events exclusive to this year like performances and craft making.

Lunar New Year craft at the BPL

The Boston Public Library’s main branch hosts a free craft workshop to ring in the new year on Jan. 27 at 3:30 p.m. — printing hongbao with Maria Fong. Guests will create red envelopes and learn how to transfer a design, roll ink with a brayer, and print an image onto the envelope.

Lunar New Year flower market

This year’s Lunar New Year flower market will run at the China Trade Center from Feb. 2-9. The pop-up store will sell flowers, decorations, and more special items for the new year and will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tết in Boston

Celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year on Feb. 4 with Tết in Boston, the annual celebration in the Seaport. Held at Flynn Cruiseport Boston from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and organized by the Vietnamese American Community of Massachusetts (VACM) and the New England Intercollegiate Vietnamese Student Association (NEIVSA), the event rings in the Year of the Dragon with a day of cultural performances, live music, food vendors, and other family-friendly activities. Advance tickets cost $3 each.

Lunar New Year Festival at PEM

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem celebrates the holiday with a daylong festival on Feb. 10. Included with museum admission, the day’s programming focuses on Chinese traditions and includes dance performances, storytelling, live music, and art making activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. One of the PEM’s most distinguished exhibits is Yin Yu Tang, a carefully reconstructed 18th century house brought from China’s Anhui province that visitors can walk through.

Chinese New Year Concert at Berklee

Berklee’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association hosts an evening of vibrant performances on Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center. Artists Budaya, CTM, and IMIX will perform alongside other Berklee student performers. Performance styles will range from traditional Chinese music to more modern pop songs, and the entire night is dragon themed. Tickets costs $12 in advance and $17 the day of the show.

Chinese New Year Parade

On Sunday, Feb. 18, the city’s annual Chinese New Year parade returns to the streets of Chinatown. From 10:30 a.m. through the afternoon, dance troupes will perform the lion dance, a traditional ritual to bring prosperity into the new year. The day typically includes street food, firecrackers, and other traditional performances, and many restaurant owners in the neighborhood leave offerings to “feed” the lions, ensuring good luck for the new year.

On the day of the parade, warm up inside the Lunar New Year Cultural Village at the China Trade Center, a free event with lion dancing, live music, and other performances. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Pao Arts Center Lunar New Year celebration

Also on the day of Chinatown’s parade, the Pao Arts Center holds its annual Lunar New Year celebration. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., guests can find performances and art-making workshops geared toward families like a shadow puppet demonstration, Korean Dasik cookie stamping on clay, and Korean cultural dances. The free event takes place at 99 Albany Street.

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