Lunar New Year Celebrations
Lunar New Year is a major holiday celebrated by Asian communities worldwide, emphasizing family and prosperity. Families come together and enjoy traditions like lion dance parades, sharing auspicious foods like fish, and giving red envelopes to children for health and success.
To celebrate a prosperous new year, GCC proudly hosts a series of exciting celebrations and activities leading up to the Lunar New Year event, inspired by the traditional 15-day festivities of old! Everyone is invited to join our annual family-friendly events, featuring Chinese Yo-yo workshops, Chinese nursery rhymes, martial arts, and Chinese dance tryouts.
If you’re looking for something to do at home, GCC has prepared 24 bilingual mini videos – in English & Chinese, with animation and live narration – that share traditional customs and stories for each day leading up to and after the Lunar New Year. Follow along to make sure you’re gathering the most good luck for your Lunar New Year celebration!
Reflecting on the 2024 Lunar New Year Celebration
In Chinese culture, the dragon represents good luck, strength, and health. This celebration was a vibrant and diverse event, headlined by a captivating umbrella juggling performance from two-time Guinness World Record holder Lina Liu, an LNY attire parade on Main Street Flushing, and a family-favorite acrobatic show by Chinese acrobat Yang Xiao Di 杨小弟. The event featured lively cultural booths, including Chinese calligraphy by artist Xiaoyang Zhou 周晓阳, dough figurine making with Master Catherine Lau, and traditional sugar painting snacks. Leading up to the celebration, attendees enjoyed a puppet show by Chinese Theatre Works and participated in Cultural EXPO workshops.
Glow Dragon Chinese Variety Show
“祥龙合家欢 ‧ 年味春节文艺演出”
Session 1 第一场
Reflecting on the 2024 Lunar New Year Celebration
Session 2 第二场
Celebrations by Year
Year of the Dragon
In Chinese culture, the dragon represents good luck, strength, and health. This vibrant celebration featured Guinness World Record holder Lina Liu’s umbrella juggling, an LNY attire parade, and acrobat Yang Xiao Di’s performance. Attendees enjoyed cultural booths with calligraphy by Xiaoyang Zhou, dough figurines by Catherine Lau, and traditional sugar painting, along with a puppet show by Chinese Theatre Works and Cultural EXPO workshops.
Year of the Rabbit
The traditional Lunar New Year celebration includes five key elements: family reunions, savory foods, a festive atmosphere, auspiciousness (bringing good luck and fortune), and rejuvenation (sweeping out the old to welcome the new). With 15 days of festivities from January 21st to February 4th, 2023, culminating in the Lantern Festival, this year’s event will feature four cultural workshops as part of our Cultural EXPO series.
Year of the Tiger
The “strong,” “brave,” and “mighty” tiger symbolizes the power to ward off evil spirits and promote good health. As we welcome the Renyin Year of the Tiger, we hope it brings renewed blessings, vitality, and hope for a prosperous year ahead.
Year of the Ox
In response to the pandemic, we hosted our first virtual Lunar New Year celebration, broadcasting it in the style of a “Spring Festival Gala” TV livestream. The event featured over 10 performances from 50+ local artists, including captivating acts like umbrella juggling, a lion dance, a Hanfu (traditional Chinese attire) runway show, a beloved puppet show, and a mouth-watering cooking demonstration on preparing a whole fish.
