Deets: Celebrate the Lunar New Year with the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Chinese Embassy. Help ring in the Year of the Rat with a variety of performances and activities. Enjoy Chinese ribbon dancing, acrobatic yo-yo performances, and an interactive magic show. Artists from the city of Shenzhen demonstrate ink finger-printing, wood printing, and how to make hands-on shadow puppets and dough figurines. Check out calligraphy demonstrations by the Confucius Institute at George Washington University, and Chinese paper cuts and good luck envelopes with the Confucius Institute at George Mason University. Go on an art scavenger hunt, create your own New Year craft, and enjoy delicious treats available for purchase at the Courtyard Café. Let’s “awaken the lion” and celebrate the New Year!  

Schedule of Events
11:30 a.m. – Lion Awakening Ceremony and Dance
              Yong Han Lion Dance Troupe (Johns Hopkins University)
12:15 p.m. – Traditional Ribbon Dancing and Diabolo Acrobatics
              Madison Chinese Dance Academy     
1:10 p.m. – Interactive Magic Show
1:40 p.m. – Traditional Ribbon Dancing and Diabolo Acrobatics
             Madison Chinese Dance Academy
2:25 p.m. – Interactive Magic Show
2:45 p.m. – Lion Closing Ceremony
            Yong Han Lion Dance Troupe (Johns Hopkins University)

The Chinese New Year Family Festival is presented in partnership with Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television, and is part of the Lunar New Year DC celebration with the Freer and Sackler and the Kennedy Center.

Hint for the Average Socialite: Event is free and open to the public!