Chinese New Year Celebration

Chinese New Year returns to Pelham Art Center on Saturday, February 4, 2017 with family-friendly activities commemorating the beginning of the Year of the Rooster! From 2:00-4:00PM, a paper-craft workshop will be held in which participants can create a Chinese Rooster and a New Year fish. At 3:15PM, members of Kwan’s Kung Fu, from Peekskill, NY, will perform a traditional Lion Dance, believed in Chinese culture to scare away evil spirits and to bring good luck. As part of our Folk Arts Series, this event is free and open to all ages.

The Lion Dance program includes an educational and historical introduction of the dance, an interactive performance, followed by a question and answer period. During the performance, the lion makes its way around the room interacting with the crowd. Children can feed red envelopes filled with whatever they like to the lion if they wish to bring good luck in the New Year.

About Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a traditional Chinese holiday that starts with the new moon on the first day of the lunar New Year and ends on the full moon fifteen days later. Each year is named for one of twelve symbolic animals: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar. January 28, 2017, marks the beginning of the Year of the Rooster and the 4714th year in the Chinese calendar. The Rooster is the tenth sign in the Chinese Zodiac cycle.