Lunar New Year festivities in the D.C. area
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Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown. Photo: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Lunar New Year ushers in the Year of the Dragon on Feb. 10, with events and feasts happening around D.C. all month long.
Why it matters: Asian embassies, chefs, and communities throughout D.C. are celebrating with food, music, and dancing.
Arts & Culture
🎉 National Museum of Asian Art: The Smithsonian museum hosts a free family festival on Saturday with performances, craft-making, storytelling, and tours.
🏮Winter Lantern Festival: The walk-through art installation, happening now at Tysons, features over 1,000 handcrafted luminescent lanterns. Tickets ($18-$26) through Feb. 18.
🎨 National Museum of American Art: The Chinese and Korean embassies co-host this free, family-friendly event on Feb. 10 with live music and dance, traditional Chinese and Korean art demos, and face painting. The Courtyard Café will serve special holiday treats.
🐉 DC Chinese Lunar New Year Parade: The festive procession on Feb. 11 travels through Chinatown with a lively firecracker finale.
🎶 The Kennedy Center: A month-plus of Lunar New Year programming includes a glowing lantern festival (through Friday) and performances from K-Pop to Chinese zither music.
Food & Drink
🇰🇭 Maketto: New Year specials run Feb. 6-10 at chef Erik Bruner-Yang's Cambodian and Taiwanese restaurant on H Street, NE — plus he's cooking a blowout five-course dinner on Feb. 6 at the Conrad hotel downtown with chef Ria Montes (tickets, $220).
👨🍳 Cut by Wolfgang Puck: Some of the country's top chefs, including Mei Lin (Daybird, L.A.) and Trigg Brown (Win Son, Brooklyn), local star Katsuya Fukushima (Daikaya Group), and more join chef Andrew Skala for a Lunar New Year feast in Georgetown on Feb. 7 (tickets, $185).
🦆 Chang Chang: Famed Chinese chef Peter Chang is hosting a Lunar New Year dinner (Feb. 8) at his Dupont Circle restaurant with family-style banquet fare and Peking duck ($88).
🐅 Tiger Fork: Shaw's modern Hong Kong-style restaurant serves lucky specials like prosperity noodles (Feb. 9-18) and showcases traditional lion dancing (Feb. 10 and 17).
🇻🇳 Nue: The upscale Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church is serving specials throughout February, plus a ticketed party ($88) on Feb. 8 with dancing, a fashion show, and "lucky money" prizes up to $2,024.
🛕 Temple Fair Bazaar: Chang is back with a daytime festival at Q by Peter Chang in Bethesda (Feb. 25) that includes savory stations from his restaurants, plus big-name guest chefs. Tickets start at $48.
🥟 Fried Rice Collective: The team is celebrating Lunar New Year across their D.C. restaurants, including a late-night kickoff party at Chiko Barracks Row with guests Magpie & the Tiger (Feb.9), a dumpling class at Chiko Bethesda (Feb. 10), and a big celebratory dinner with a bunch of AAPI talents at The Shell on Capitol Hill (Feb. 15).