will be celebrating Chinese New Year with food, music, dance, crafts and more for all ages.
Celebrate the Chinese New Year 2016, the Year of the Monkey, on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Parkville Branch Library, 10 Campbell St. (off Lakeville Road), New Hyde Park, 11040. It will be fun for all ages with food, lion dances, crafts, activities, demonstrations, music and lucky tokens of Red and Gold.
The Chinese New Year, the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar, is the most important holiday for the Chinese people. It’s based on a traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. In 2016, Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 8 and is celebrated for seven days, from Feb. 7 to 13.
The Chinese New Year festival celebrates a year of hard work and participants are meant to have a good rest and relax with family. Family reunions represent the most important part of the festivities. People visit relatives and friends, go shopping, watch traditional Chinese shows, launch fireworks, plan for the coming year—and wish for a lucky and prosperous one. In modern China, working professionals have seven days of holiday, including the weekend, to celebrate. Streets, buildings and houses where Chinese New Year is celebrated are decorated with red. Red is the main color for the festival, as it’s believed to be an auspicious color. As 2016 is the Year of the Monkey, decorations related to monkeys will also be commonly seen.
