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Deets: The Metropolitan Museum of Art will host a Lunar New Year Festival in celebration of the Year of the Snake on Saturday, January 25. The festival will honor Lunar New Year traditions from across Asia and feature artist-led workshops, performances, and interactive activities for participants of all ages. Events will take place throughout the Museum from 12PM - 5PM. All activities are free with Museum admission and no registration is required. Admission is free for Members and kids under 12 and pay-as-you-wish for all New Yorkers and students from Connecticut and New Jersey.
Lunar New Year Festival is made possible, in part, by Council Member Keith Powers.
Highlights include a Lunar New Year lion dance kick-off celebration by the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute; a performance on Lunar New Year traditions by the Sesame Street Muppeteers featuring Alan Muraoka; a community hub showcasing community organizations around New York City and beyond, including AAP(I Belong), Flushing Town Hall, Ten Ren Tea, and more; and storytime with children’s book author Hanh Bui.
EVENTS
The full schedule of program with details will be available on The Met’s website in English, Korean, simplified Chinese, and Spanish.
Performances
The festival will begin with a lion dance performance by the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute at 12 pm. Sesame Street Muppeteers featuring Alan Muraoka will explore traditions of Lunar New Year (12:10–12:40 p.m., 1–1:30 p.m.), AAPI Jazz Collective led by Peter Lin will perform music from many Asian cultures (2–2:45 p.m., 3:30–4:15 p.m.), and the Lunar New Year Performance Showcase (3–3:30 p.m., 4–4:30 p.m.) will present the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute Lion Dance Team, a traditional fan dance from New York Korean Performing Arts Center, and a live vocalist and intergenerational dancers from the Vietnam Heritage Center.
Art Activities, Demonstrations, Talks and Storytelling
Art-making workshops will be offered throughout the day. Attendees can create their own Prosperous Paper Chain Snakes and contribute to building a giant serpent celebrating the Year of the Snake. Author Hanh Bui will host a family-friendly Storytime reading both The Yellow Áo Dài and her new book, Ánh's New Word (12:10–12:40PM, 1–1:30PM), and Chinatown bookshop Yu and Me will host a pop-up shop focusing on community and immigrant stories.
In the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall and Carroll Classroom, organizations across New York City will be part of a Community Culture Hub celebrating community through art, events, resources, and more. Participating organizations include: AAP(I Belong), Asian Mental Health Collective, Flushing Town Hall, Make Us Visible, Q-Wave, Ten Ren Tea, and Think!Chinatown.
In the galleries, there will be expert talks on music and calligraphy from artists and musicians Ariel Loh and Clae Lu (2–2:30PM, 3:30–4PM), a drop-in activity to practice Chinese and Korean calligraphy, and a collaborative mural activity honoring heritage inspired by objects from the exhibition Colorful Korea: The Lea R. Sneider Collection. There will be drop-in conversations with Met volunteer guides in various galleries in English, Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish.
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects ranging in date from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the 21st century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of Asia’s many civilizations are represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world. Works from the collection are featured in current exhibitions and displayed across the department’s many galleries.
Celebrating the Year of the Snake (on view through February 10, 2026) presents works from the Museum’s collection depicting the snake in various media. Together, they illustrate the significant role that the snake, a creature characterized as alert, calm, and smart, plays in Chinese culture.
Other exhibitions on view include The Genesis Facade Commission: Lee Bul, Long Tail Halo (through May 27, 2025), presenting four new sculptures transforming the iconic niches of the Museum’s Fifth Avenue facade; The Great Hall Commission: Tong Yang-Tze, Dialogue (through April 8, 2025), featuring two monumental works of Chinese calligraphy for the Museum’s historic space; Colorful Korea: The Lea R. Sneider Collection (through February 16, 2026), highlighting the pervasiveness of auspicious symbolism and the unpretentious dynamism in Korean art; Ganesha: Lord of New Beginnings (through February 25, 2024), highlighting the many depictions of Ganesha through 24 works; A Passion for Jade: The Bishop Collection (through February 17, 2025), showcasing over 100 remarkable objects representing the sophisticated art of Chinese gemstone carvers and Mogul Indian craftsmen; and Embracing Color: Enamel in Chinese Decorative Arts, 1300–1900 (through February 17, 2025), featuring works that reveal the aesthetic, technical, and cultural achievement of Chinese enamel wares during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
HInt for the Average Socialite: Learn more.
The full list of Asian art exhibitions is available on The Met’s website.
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