Three Ways to Celebrate Chinese, Lunar New Year in DC in 2021

Courtesy: Lunar New Year Virtual Celebration by Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery

It’s the Year of the Ox! Chinese New Year celebrations are usually filled with lion dances, dragon dances, fireworks, family gatherings, family meals, giving red envelopes, and decorating with chunlian couplets.

Sure most of that for 2021’s Ox is… online, but we still found three great ways to fête the first new moon of the lunar calendar and all of the cultural celebrations that usually come with it.

Join Mayor Muriel Bowser for the annual Chinese Lunar New Year Parade online!

Streaming onto DC Public Library’s Facebook and Youtube pages, The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, the 1882 Foundation, and the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs are holding a virtual opening ceremony to welcome the Lunar New Year!

Tune in throughout the weekend for family storytime and craft activities, and participate in a virtual parade of community memories, highlighting the significance of the Lunar New Year to the DC community.

Celebrate with the Smithsonian

Celebrate the Lunar New Year online with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Chinese Cultural Institute, and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America. Enjoy streamed video performances and demonstrations of traditional Chinese crafts and Lunar New Year traditions. And even visit the SAAM Family Zone online for crafts, coloring pages, videos, and other activities. All of this free fun for the whole family starts Saturday, February 13th at 10 AM.

Tiger Fork Celebrates Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day with a Good Luck Dinner Date Night
Enjoy a Good Luck Dinner Date Night

Several local restaurants are offering Chinese New Year specials, like Nooshi, Queen’s English, and Maketto. But we have to call out Tiger Fork (922 N Street NW) for its super special Good Luck Date Night Dinner-For-Two.

Because Valentine’s weekend happens to coincide with Chinese New Year, Hong Kong-inspired Tiger Fork has curated a shareable prix-fixe 5-course menu for-two on February 14th ($65, serves 2), featuring symbolic dishes that aim to bring couples good luck in the coming year.

Here’s the menu:
*Smashed Cucumber Salad*
garlic, chili, sesame
*Snowflake Dumplings (jiaozi)*
spicy beef, black vinegar tuille
*Steamed Black Bass*
whole black sea bass, scallion, ginger, side of rice
*Orange Chives*
orange infused vinegar sauce, flowering chives, bamboo shoots, scallions, ginger, garlic
*Grapefruit Pomelo Tart*
grapefruit curd, pie crust, pomelo creme fraiche
Guests can also pre-order the special menu via Tock.