Saturday, Feb. 10, was Lunar New Year, where Asian communities from all over came together in Manhattan’s Chinatown. 2024 is the year of the dragon, but more specifically the wood dragon. In Chinese culture, the dragon symbolizes power, strength, dynamism and good luck. Although the holiday stems from Chinese culture and the Chinese calendar, it extends beyond China to many Asian countries throughout East and Southeast Asia, including Thailand (my country!), Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia.
There have been many events to celebrate the New Year in New York across all five boroughs, and there are more to come. On Feb. 3, the Metropolitan Museum of Art held an exhibition, “Celebrating the Year of the Dragon,” that displayed many different objects related to the dragon and the other zodiac signs. It included mirrors, pendants, jars and belt hooks, all depicting the dragon that acts as a “dynamic force that dispels evil influences,” according to the Met.
A bit farther south the same day, City Point and Albee Square in downtown Brooklyn had tons of festivities, including a Balloontopia with life-sized red balloon creatures like dragons and fish. They offered free Lunar New Year family portraits, crafts creating dragons and drums and Lion Dances.
On Feb. 9, Fordham’s Rose Hill Campus held a Lunar New Year banquet hosted by Fordham’s Asian Cultural Exchange, Ascend and Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American Committee. They had lots of food, mooncake painting, traditional games and raffle prizes. Fordham’s Lincoln Center also had a Lunar New Year banquet hosted by six clubs across both campuses: Fordham’s Korean Students Association, Chinese Cultural Society, Filipinos of LC Offering Welcome, Tomodachi, Asian Pacific American Coalition and Vietnamese Students Association (VSA). They also had a great variety of food, including chung cake. There were performances by VSA, Fordham Empire, Columbia Wushu and Columbia Lion Dance. My personal favorite was the Columbia Wushu performance which was a showcase of their martial arts skills. It was very intense, impressive and entertaining to watch.
On Feb. 10, the day of the New Year, crowds filled Sarah D. Roosevelt Park, conveniently accessible by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) with the 4 train and the D train. If you didn’t know exactly where the celebration was, all you had to do was follow the sea of red. Standing on a sidewalk, just watching people walk by, you’ll notice almost everyone wears at least one red accent. The festival included a lion dance parade that went around the streets accompanied by percussionists and followed by crowds trying to get a touch for good luck. The streets of Chinatown were filled with confetti, with a new confetti popper exploding every few minutes, seconds even. It was a gathering of people of all ages, races and genders. Along the streets were kids climbing fixtures, toddlers on the shoulders of parents and siblings spraying silly string at each other. I decided to bring my DSLR camera and I wasn’t alone in that thought. There were many street photographers present asking people in traditional clothing for portraits. In fact, I had two people approach me asking for a portrait. One of them was an elderly Chinese man who noticed my camera, and while he didn’t know English well, I understood with gestures what he was asking: to include my camera in the portrait he was taking. It was a sweet, wholesome moment of two photographers noticing each other.
The air was filled with excitement, laughter and joy. Streets were filled with stands and stores selling party poppers, noisemakers and traditional decorations. The Chinese bakeries were packed, offering breads and cakes with red bean and cream fillings, among many other items. I enjoyed some dumplings from Jin Mei Dumpling where they offer 15 dumplings for $5. Although the dumplings were more wrapper than filling, it’s a pretty decent deal nonetheless. You get what you pay for.
Lunar New Year celebrations usually last 15 or 16 days, meaning there are still more celebrations coming up. Lunar New Year begins on the new moon and ends when it is a full moon. On Feb. 18 there was a Lunar New Year celebration taking place in Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, Queens. There were lion dance performances, music and crafts. In the Bronx, they rang in the Year of the Dragon with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at Hostos Community College Main Theatre. On Feb. 24 when there is a full moon, indicating the end of the new year celebration, the 26th annual Chinatown Lunar New Year festival and parade will be taking place from 1-3 p.m. The parade begins on Mott/Canal Street, goes toward the Bowery and ends around Grand Street. There will be festival booths on Bayard St. between Mott St. and Mulberry St.
Lunar New Year is such a beautiful holiday that allows communities to come together, to celebrate a new start and wish each other luck for the new year. I want to emphasize the celebrations available across all five boroughs, and I most definitely will be checking out downtown Brooklyn’s celebration next year!
