While all Lunar New Year celebrations are planned around the Chinese lunar calendar, the festivities vary widely in China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam. The various celebrations are all based on the traditional lunisolar calendar of China, but each has aspects unique to its own culture.
Interested in planning a local event that embraces Lunar New Year and highlights your town or city’s East and South East Asian communities? Read on to learn how to plan an event that incorporates Lunar New Year traditions.
How is Lunar New Year celebrated?
The Lunar New Year is associated with a vast range of cultural lore and traditions: gathering for reunion dinners on New Year’s Eve, fireworks, and exchanging red envelopes with money inside. A typical Lunar New Year occasion looks forward to a bright year ahead and is about uniting loved ones. Here are some thoughts and Chinese New Year event ideas to help inspire your holiday celebrations.
Pro tip: consider seeking out Chinese cultural organisations to ensure your event’s performances authentically and accurately portray Chinese culture.
Host a Lunar New Year cultural showcase
With a tradition that stretches back thousands of years, Chinese culture offers rich opportunities for inspirational and educational showcases and seminars. Consider a calligraphy demo, a seminar on Confucius or Han Buddhism, or even a showcase of the martial art known as kung fu.
Partner with a local organisation when planning your event. This partnership will give cultural groups a platform to showcase their heritage and help you reach out to your local community. Incorporating an art or craft fair element helps support local artists and craftspeople and could also introduce them to new customers.
Plan a feast with East Asian cuisine
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with a festive meal or menu featuring traditional dishes. For example, dumplings often symbolise wealth, while pork represents strength. Because China and East Asia cover a vast geographical area, you can offer an array of flavours, textures, and ingredients.
For your event, invite local restaurants or chefs to be part of a street food pop-up event or tasting festival. Include finger foods and easy-to-hold options, such as Chinese pork dumplings, chả lụa (Vietnamese sausage), and tteokbokki (fiery Korean rice cakes).
Organise a colourful Lunar New Year festival
What better way to celebrate a culture than with a festival? Consult local authorities about setting a street parade route – and be sure to get any necessary permits for giant (paper) dragons!
Consider reaching out to the Asian and Chinese cultural organisations in your area when you’re planning a Chinese New Year event as an opportunity for partnership. Incorporate performances, art, and potentially a fair aspect, so attendees can explore many facets of Chinese culture.
Celebrate Eastern culture with workshops and classes
Host a workshop centred around Chinese arts, heritage, or culture. Crafting events are family-friendly; offer different projects for adults and children to entice a larger audience.
Chinese and East Asian cultures have many beautiful and distinctive arts and crafts to discover. Workshops on calligraphy, painting, lantern-making, paper folding, mahjong, and tai chi require minimal materials and are super engaging. Set your sound system to play Chinese opera or konghou (an ancient stringed instrument) music to set the mood.
Mark Chinese New Year with performances
Chinese opera is famous for its elaborate costumes and makeup, while Chinese gymnasts are known for their exceptional control and skill. Use a gym to host a gymnastics workshop, or host a Chinese opera performance in a theatre. Traditional dragon and lion dances, with their flowing banners and large masks, are also favourites during Lunar New Year celebrations. And since the Chinese are widely believed to have invented fireworks, end the night with a pyrotechnics display.
Use demos to get attendees cooking
Many people’s favourite part of a holiday celebration is the food. Teach people about a new cuisine with a cooking class or workshop, like FACT Liverpool does for the Lunar New Year.
Consider working with a local chef specialising in Chinese or East Asian cuisine to demonstrate proper techniques and discuss ideal ingredients. Make sure to incorporate information about what the dish symbolises as part of your workshop. Cooking classes are great online cultural events – you can send the ingredients list to attendees ahead of time and have them follow along with the presenter via Zoom or your preferred streaming platform.
Ready to host a Lunar New Year celebration?
Now that you’ve got plenty of Lunar New Year event ideas, sign up for Eventbrite and create a page for your event. With various tools and features at your fingertips, Eventbrite can help you promote your event on social media, send emails to potential attendees, and sell tickets.
