Chinese New Year for NYC Kids: Celebrate Lunar New Year with Free Parades and Festivals

Chinese New Year is one of our favorite times in New York City. Although the Year of the Dragon officially begins on Monday, January 23, there are Lunar New Year celebrations for weeks representing many different Asian cultures and traditions.

This is a wonderful time for families to enjoy Chinese food and learn about Chinese culture and stories. And with three different Lunar New Year Parades in NYC, it's also a great opportunity to go out and explore a new neighborhood.

From famous annual events like Chinatown's parade to lesser known celebrations like the Queens Botanical Garden's Lunar New Year flower market, here are 15 ways to ring in Chinese New Year with kids in New York City, most of which are free.

Lunar New Year Celebration with Jin Jin the Dragon – Prospect Heights
Central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza
Saturday, January 21 at 1pm
FREE
Chinese ringmaster and author, Grace Chang, puts on a magic, dance and acrobatics show with the help of her sidekick, Jin Jin the Dragon.

Dragon Dance Workshop – Crown Heights
Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145 Brooklyn Avenue between St Marks Avenue and Prospect Place
Saturday, January 21 at 2:30pm
Free with admission: $7.50
Kids can learn to do the traditional dance, and then craft a paper dragon.

Pre-Lunar New Year Gala & Flower Market – Flushing
Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main Street near Dahlia Avenue
Saturday, January 21-Sunday, January 22 10am-5pm
FREE
Sadly, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden isn't hosting a Lunar New Year Festival and Flower Market this year, but the Queens Botanical Garden is! Families can watch a dragon dance, sit in on kung fu, feng shui and cooking demos, and then browse the lovely flower market.

Lunar New Year Festival Family Day – Chinatown
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street between Grand and Hester Streets
Sunday, January 22 10am-5pm
$10
There's a lot to see at MoCA, and this annual family festival is the perfect time to check out this off the beaten path museum. Kids can ring in the Year of the Dragon with Mandarin and calligraphy demos, holiday arts and crafts, a lion dance performance and family-friendly gallery tours.

Lunar New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival – Chinatown
Monday, January 23 11am-3pm
Sara Roosevelt Park, Grand and Chrystie Streets
FREE
No, this isn't Chinatown's famous Lunar New Year Parade (that happens on Sunday, January 29). This is the nabe's other big holiday bash, which takes place on Chinese New Year proper. Kick off the Year of the Dragon with a bang as 600,000 firecrackers explode to ward off evil spirits. Afterward, dragon, unicorn and lion dancers will march through Chinatown's streets and join in a festival featuring performances and food.

Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration – Battery Park City
Winter Garden in the World Financial Center, 200 Vesey Street near West Street
Saturday, January 28 1-4pm
FREE
The afternoon starts off with Chinese crafts like dough figures, calligraphy, paper cutting and face painting, followed by a lion dance, acrobatics and traditional music performances.

Lunar New Year Festival – Hudson Square
Children's Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton Street between Hudson and Greenwich Streets
Saturday, January 28th 10am-5pm
Free with admission: $10
CMA's Chinese New Year family celebration has always been super-popular, and we imagine it will be even more spectacular in the museum's brand-new space. Kids can learn about traditional and modern Chinese art, catch Chinese Theatre Works' shadow puppet show Tiger Tales, watch the young Chinese Lion Dancers from P.S.124 and more.

Manhattan Lunar New Year Parade – Chinatown
Sunday, January 29 at 1pm
Begins at Mott and Hester Streets. Find the complete route on the Better Chinatown website.
FREE
Half a million spectators are expected to line the streets of Chinatown for this colorful pan-Asian procession, which includes Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Malaysian and even Hispanic floats and cultural performances. Raven and her daughter go every year, and recommend arriving early—by noon at the very latest—if you want to snag a good spot. It's a very festive and very loud affair that's way too crowded for strollers, so it's probably a bit much for the preschool crowd. The parade ends at Sara Roosevelt Park at Canal and Forsyth Streets, which hosts an outdoor cultural festival from 11:30am-4pm. If you want to finish the day with dim sum, check out our roundup of family-friendly Chinatown restaurants, which, as you can imagine, will be pretty busy. Be prepared to wait!

Brooklyn Lunar New Year Parade – Sunset Park
Sunday, January 29 at noon
Begins at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street
FREE
We've never been to Brooklyn's Chinese New Year celebration, but we've heard from friends and readers that it's a great one to hit since it's a bit under the radar. No wonder: Annual sponsor the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association has yet to post the info on its website, but we called and verified that the parade starts at noon, preceded by appearances from community luminaries and cultural performances for kids and adults at 10am. The procession ends at 61st Street and Eighth Avenue. 

Chinese New Year Celebration – Staten Island
Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanic Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace
Sunday January 29 1-3pm
$10 for adults, $8 for children under 12
This is the fest to hit if you're looking to expose the kids to Asian arts and culture. The lineup includes Tibetan, Mongolian and Miao dance, plus a traditional lion dance and tea in the serene Chinese Scholar's Garden.

Moon Over Manhattan: Celebrate the Lunar New Year Family Day – Upper East Side
Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets
Saturday, February 4 1-4pm
$12 for adults, $5 for children
The afternoon includes a lion dance, kung fu demos, performances by Peking Opera and Chinese Theatre Works, and children's author and illustrator Mingmei Yip reenacting stories from her books.

Queens Lunar New Year Parade and Celebration – Flushing
Starts at Union Street and 39th Avenue
Saturday, February 4 at 11am
FREE
Since Flushing is home to a huge community of Chinese and East Asian residents, it's no wonder its parade rivals Chinatown's. Expect dragon dancers, steel drummers and firecrackers. The procession ends at Main Street and 39th Avenue near the Queens Crossing Mall, which hosts a cultural celebration beginning at 12:30pm.

Lunar New Year Dance Sampler – Flushing
Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard between Main and Union Streets
Saturday, February 4 at 2pm
FREE but tickets required. They'll be distributed starting at noon.
Another post-parade celebration takes place at this Flushing culture spot with a lineup of Asian dances from China, Korea, India, Thailand, Taiwan and the Pacific Islands. This is just one of many Lunar New Year events at Flushing Town Hall scheduled for January and February. Other programs of interest include a puppet and origami workshop on Sunday, February 5, and a Korean drum line on Sunday, February 19. Visit the website for a complete schedule.

Celebrating Lunar New Year: The Year of the Dragon – Upper East Side
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Saturday, February 4 11am-4pm
Free with admission: $25 for adults, free for children under 12
Families can enjoy Asian performances, gallery activities and art-making workshops in honor of the Year of the Dragon.

Chinese New Year Celebration: The Year of the Dragon – Upper East Side
China Institute, 125 East 65th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
Sunday, February 5 11am-2:45pm
Lion dance is FREE. Workshops are $50 for one, $80 for both.
Families can enjoy a lion dance and kung fu demos outside the China Institute at no cost. This is a great way to introduce Chinese New Year to younger kids who aren't ready for the big parades. There is also a pair of pricey workshops on dumpling making and calligraphy inside the institute.

Find additional Chinese New Year celebrations in our Event Calendar, or read our other posts about Chinese culture in our Chinatown Family Guide.