Happy Lunar New Year from your friends at The Chinatown Project! We are excited to be welcoming the new year and saying hello to the Year of the Wood Snake. There are so many great celebrations happening throughout the next few weeks in Boston Chinatown and beyond. We invite you to check out a few below and be sure to subscribe to our events calendar so you never miss a community event:

🐍 Upcoming Events 🐍

• Friday, January 24: Lunar New Year Celebration Hosted by CAWM-Chinese Association of Western Mass.

• Friday, January 24 – Tuesday, January 28: Chinese New Year Market Hosted by Chinatown Main Street

• Saturday, January 25: Taiwanese American Professionals Chinese New Year Celebration

• Saturday, January 25 – Sunday, January 26: Tet in Boston 

• Sunday, January 26: Lunar New Year Celebration Hosted by Worcester Art Museum

• Thursday, January 30: Lunar New Year Hosted by Museum of Fine Arts

• Saturday, February 8: Lunar New Year at Lynn Museum with Lucky Knots Art

• Saturday, February 8: Milton Lunar New Year Celebration

• Sunday, February 9: Chinese New Year Cultural Village Hosted by Chinatown Main Street

• Sunday, February 9: Lunar New Year Celebration Hosted by Pao Arts Center

• Sunday, February 9: Lunar New Year Parade in Boston Chinatown

• Saturday, February 15: Lunar New Year Festival Hosted by Peabody Essex Museum

• Tuesday, February 26: Year of the Snake Party Hosted by Pao Arts Center

Psttt...we also have an Instagram post! Would you take a few minutes to like and share the post so we can help amplify these events?

🧧 Our LNY traditions 🧧

Some Lunar New Year celebrations start right at home. We asked members of our e-board to share with us what traditions they participate in to celebrate the new year with their families.

Aubrey:

"When Lunar New Year rolls around, me and my family spend all day eating foods reserved for special holidays!  In the morning, we’ll have a warm bowl of tang yuan (汤圆), glutinous rice balls stuffed with red bean, black sesame, or a peanut filling. For lunch, we make sure to eat some whole steamed fish along with an assortment of accompanying vegetable and rice dishes. Lastly, for dinner, our family comes together to fold and boil dumplings filled with pork and chives usually dipped in a black vinegar. At the end of the night (if we have any room left), we’ll have some desserts like nian gao (年糕) or ba bao fan (八宝饭). A sweet treat in hopes of a sweet Year of the Snake!"

Billy:

"As a restaurant kid, our family didn’t usually do a whole lot to celebrate since we were always working. However, we always made sure to set aside some time to eat dinner together as a family and indulge in some sweet treats like nian gao (年糕) and the Chinese sponge cake my aunt always made for special occasions. We also make sure not to do any cleaning in the house, showering, or haircuts! "

Kim:

"This new year’s date actually falls on my birthday! I am excited to eat bánh tét, a Vietnamese sticky rice cake made for the holiday, with pork meat. I’ll be going over to my parents’ house and eating as much of this pan fried deliciousness as I can (along with a slice of birthday cake!). Since I’m not married, I still can receive a red envelope (woo!). But most importantly, I enjoy this time sitting with my family at the dinner table eating traditional Vietnamese food and spending time together. The one thing we won’t be doing on the actual day? Getting our hair cut or sweeping the house...can’t lose any luck!"

Wishing you all a prosperous 2025!