Lunar New Year 2026 in Philly: 25 Parades, Events & Dinners

Learn more about Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tibetan and other Asian cultural traditions at the 45th annual Lunar New Year edition of the Penn Museum’s signature CultureFest! Series.

The Year of the Horse celebration includes live music, a vendor marketplace, family-friendly activities like storytelling, and make-and-take art, plus the grand finale: a performance of the traditional lion dance.

Admission to the event, held in collaboration with Penn’s American Center for Asian Students and Center for East Asian Studies, comes with timed tickets for regular museum admission.

This South Philly attraction and hotel marks the beginning of the new year with tasty restaurant specials.

The Live! Casino and Hotel’s contemporary Asian fusion restaurant Luk Fu celebrates the season with a limited-edition Lunar New Year menu featuring a stir fry with Chinese sausage, cured pork belly, lotus root, wood ear mushroom and other veggies; braised pork trotters with bean curd; pan-seared whole pompano with fish sauce and an array of libations, including a cognac cocktail called prosperity welcome tea.

February 2 – March 6, 2026 (select dates)

Everyone’s favorite kung-fu-fighting panda ushers in a month full of Lunar New Year fun at the Comcast Center Campus, including:

• DreamWorks Po’s Awesome Lunar New Year Adventure at the Universal Sphere: The Comcast team’s immersive experience inside The Universal Sphere returns again this year in honor of Lunar New Year, starring none other than Kung Fu Panda’s Po. Join the Dragon Warrior, his mentor Master Shifu and his father Mr. Ping as they journey to Panda Village for the lantern festival — and create your very own digital sky lantern. Shows run Monday through Friday during normal business hours (February 2 to March 6, 2026).

• Philadelphia Suns Traditional Lion Dance: The Philadelphia Suns (see below) head to the Comcast Center campus to share their traditional lion dance two days in February: Saturday, February 14, 2026 and Tuesday, February 17, 2026, with performances at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. both days.

The Dumpling Academy’s popular Chinese Lunar New Year Handmade Dumpling Making workshop — where participants can learn the art of making dumplings from expert instructor Yin — returns this February.

After sampling some dim sum and celebratory snacks, participants prepare savory dumpling fillings before wrapping, cooking and enjoying them together.

While the Dumpling Academy mostly runs its workshops privately, each year it offers this popular workshop for the general public. Tickets are required, and the exact event venue is disclosed after registration.

February 8 & 21, 2026

What started as a group of kids shooting hoops in Chinatown in 1972 has blossomed into the Chinatown-based community organization The Philadelphia Suns, Philly’s premier performers of the traditional lion dance. Lunar New Year means the Suns fan out across the region to share the stunning dance featuring costumes, drumming, dancing and lots of firecrackers (at select events).

In addition to Philly’s two epic Chinese New Year parades and a Dilworth Park performance (more on those below), you’ll have so many other opportunities to see the Suns perform the traditional lion dance, including:

• Lunar New Year Celebration at Main Line Art Center: Haverford’s Main Line Art Center presents a free Lunar New Year Celebration, ushering in the Year of the Horse with hands-on art activities for all ages, face painting and an outdoor performance of the iconic lion dance (Sunday, February 8, 2026, noon to 2 p.m.).

• Lunar New Year at Reading Terminal Market: Visitors to Philly’s iconic Reading Terminal Market get a Lunar New Year treat when the Philadelphia Suns bring their performance to the historic Center City market space (Saturday, February 21, 2026, 11:30 a.m.).

• Lunar New Year Celebration at the Please Touch Museum: Celebrate the Year of the Horse at the Please Touch Museum’s family-friendly Lunar New Year day with two opportunities to see the traditional lion dance. General admission tickets include access to the performance (Saturday, February 21, 2026, 2:30 & 3:45 p.m.).

• Lunar New Year at The Rail Park: Bundle up for this free outdoor celebration at The Rail Park with a lion dance performance, along with Tai Chi, K-Pop dance classes, a bao bar and more (Saturday, February 21, 2026, 2 p.m.).

• Lunar New Year at King of Prussia, a Simon Property Mall: The area’s top shopping destination, King of Prussia, a Simon Property Mall, explodes with festive color and energy in honor of the Year of the Horse when a traditional dance performance comes to the massive mall (Saturday, February 21, 2026, 4 p.m.).

Chinatown hosts two epic parades each year to celebrate Chinese New Year — one on the eve of the holiday’s start, and another during daytime hours (more on that below).

The late-night parade features music, food, traditional lion and dragon dances, and plenty of fireworks and firecrackers. (Event organizers provide earplugs, but you can also BYO).

The parade — meant to bring good luck to the local community — starts at 10 p.m. at 10th and Spring streets and goes until the clock strikes midnight and flips the calendar to the new year. The family-friendly event also includes games and prizes.

The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC) hosts this annual design competition (sponsored in part by Visit Philadelphia). PCDC welcomes two-dimensional designs in the form of illustrations, posters, collages or digital art with the horse as the centerpiece. Artists have until Sunday, February 8, 2026, to enter.

Winners and their designs take center stage on the first day of Lunar New Year, Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at Crane Community Center, PCDC’s Chinatown community center and the hub of many of the organization’s upcoming Lunar New Year events (see below).

February 17 – March 3, 2026 (select dates)

To celebrate Lunar New Year, spend some early morning hours in Philly’s beautiful Franklin Square — one of William Penn’s original public squares — immersed in self-care as you learn the ancient Chinese practice of tai chi, which combines gentle movement with breathing and meditation.

Bundle up and enjoy several opportunities to participate in all-abilities free, outdoor tai chi classes at Franklin Square from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., the perfect way to start off your day! Classes move inside the limited-space Franklin Square Pavilion if the weather turns frightful.

February 19 – March 7, 2026 (select dates)

Celebrating Chinese New Year includes participating in activities that honor traditions of the holiday. Crane Community Center acts as the hub for these activities spread across the 15-day holiday, including:

• Chinese Calligraphy Workshops: Learn the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy — using a brush to create beautiful Chinese characters on paper or silk — from masterful calligrapher Yusheng Feng. Registration is required for the all-ages program with a $5 materials fee (February 19 & 24, 2026).

• Mahjong Socials: Grab a group of friends and learn how to play Mahjong, a game similar to dominoes but played with pais, tiles with Chinese symbols. Register ahead of time for the free events (February 23 & March 2, 2026).

• Kung Fu Workshop: Spend an active few hours on a Saturday afternoon to learn the martial art of Kung Fu. Registration is required for the most-ages event, which is open to participants ages 10 to 70, with those 14 and younger accompanied by an adult (Sunday, March 1, 2026).

• Lantern Making Workshop: As the festivities begin to wind down, learn how to make a traditional lantern to mark the end of the holiday. Workshop participants get their own DIY lantern kit and expert guidance. Register and pay the $5 materials fee for the one-day event (Tuesday, March 3, 2026).

With all of these Lunar New Year festivities, we almost lost sight of the other big happenings in Philadelphia — namely, America’s 250th birthday!

Philadelphia’s year-long lineup of 52 Weeks of Firsts comes to Chinatown for a Saturday Firstival celebrating the neighborhood’s iconic Friendship Gate.

The first authentic Chinese gate in the U.S., Philadelphia’s Friendship Gate remains a stunning symbol of international partnership and community pride. Expect live performances, pop-up experiences, family fun and plenty of Philly flavor.

Bucks County’s Pearl S. Buck House — the historic homestead of the acclaimed author — invites you and your family in for a jam-packed Lunar New Year celebration with music, crafts, games and live entertainment, including traditional dance performances.

Expect food trucks onsite with tasty bites to fuel your fun, including origami, face painting, a tea ceremony and so much more. The ticketed event also includes optional tours of the Pearl S. Buck Historic Estate, with items on display like the typewriter she used to write the 1931 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Good Earth.

The Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy takes the Lunar New Year festivities to the streets of Media with a traditional lion dance performance.

The fiery performance kicks off on State Street in front of the Plum Street Mall, then heads down Orange Street before looping back to stop by all the local shops and businesses along the way.

Expect lots of dancing, music, food and retail vendors at the annual event ringing in the new year. The event wraps up in front of Peking Restaurant on State Street.

Lunar New Year festivities come to the winter-clad Dilworth Park — with this weekend being your last chance to glide across the ice rink this season — for a grand celebration in front of City Hall.

The first 100 guests to arrive at the free new year celebration get a red envelope. Temple University sponsors the event this year with a special performance of a Chinese opera from Boyer College of Music and Dance’s Jiaye Xu.

Performances include Philly’s Kun Yang Lin Dance company and a rollicking lion dance from the Philadelphia Suns (see above).

Ring in the Year of the Horse in Old City with a lively lion dance performance from the Philadelphia Suns (see above), kid-friendly crafts with Asian Arts Initiative, red envelope surprise giveaways and a free dumpling workshop with Michael Chow from Sang Kee Peking Duck House. (Kee also offers another dumpling workshop at Peking Duck House on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.)

After you’ve downed your dumplings, stick around for the free Electrical Spectacle Light Show in its waning days of the season, a round of Philly Mini Golf with Love and some friendly street curling.

February 21 – March 7, 2026 (select dates) | 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Want to sink your teeth into Chinatown’s diverse culture and stellar food scene? You’ll have four separate opportunities throughout Lunar New Year to embark on a food-themed walking tour of the neighborhood where you’ll sample tasty bites along the way as you learn about Szechuan, dumplings, boba tea and so much more.

You’ll need advanced tickets to the two-and-a-half hour tour for your tastebuds, perfect for newbies to Philly as well as locals looking for a new favorite eatery. Tickets cost $79 per person. Vegetarians and pescatarians should let tour leaders know of dietary restrictions in advance. Registrants receive the meeting location after buying tickets.

Philly’s Chinatown community gathers in the streets for two Lunar New Year parades each year led by The Philadelphia Suns. If you missed the late nighter (see above) or just want to celebrate some more, the daytime Lunar New Year Parade kicks off at 11 a.m. from 10th and Spring streets with an explosive lion dance performance from the Philadelphia Suns.

The festivities keep going through 2 p.m. and include music, drumming, food and an ebullient vibe meant to usher in good luck throughout the community for the coming year.

The Crane Community Center converts into a local artisanal marketplace for the Chinatown Chinese New Year Market at the end of the month. Enjoy free admission and make-and-take arts and crafts as you browse the wares of more than 40 local vendors.

The market celebrates traditions of prosperity, boosting support to neighborhood artists and small businesses while raising awareness of Philly’s vast network of AAPI businesses.

February 28 & March 7, 2026  | 12- 2 p.m.

If “learn how to lion dance” isn’t on your list of new year’s resolutions, it should be! The Philadelphia Suns (see above) set out to teach others the art of the traditional lion dance in this hands-on workshop.

Expect to learn the basic movements, beats and meaning behind the traditional dance performance. No prior lion-dancing experience required, as the Suns show you all you need to know before you get to strut your stuff in a mini-parade throughout the neighborhood.

The free workshop requires advanced registration due to space limitations (capped at 40).

Among the many, many Asian and AAPI-owned businesses in Philadelphia, you’ll find amazing restaurants offering Asian fare representing the cuisines of Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and beyond.

Celebrate Lunar New Year with a feast of top-tier sushi, mouthwatering hot pot, traditional Tibetan momo or any other delicious dishes prepared by great chefs. With a little help from some Philly experts, you don’t even have to go searching for it.

Take a tour with local foodies familiar with Chinatown’s dining scene. Or go your way with the help of our roundups on Asian-owned restaurants in Philadelphia and the best restaurants in Chinatown.

Or snag reservations at this mouth-watering “Smoke Meets Saigon” collaboration between East Passyunk restaurants Ember & Ash and Gabriella’s Vietnam, where the chefs promise live-fire cooking for the family-style, multi-course meal.