Celebrate and honor the Lunar New Year at parties, festivals, dinners and events all over Houston from January 25 through February 16, 2014.
Celebrated throughout Asian countries and throughout Houston, the arrival of the Lunar New Year marks the slithering close of the Year of the Snake and the galloping arrival of the Year of the Horse.
This particular new year is the Year of the Green Wood Horse. Hopeful, optimistic and confident, the Horse and the change in the calendar are being celebrated at events big and small all over Houston from late January until the weekend just before Valentine’s Day.
- Tet Festival Houston 2014 at Discovery Green | FREE | Saturday, January 25 – Celebrate Tet Nguyen Dan, the most important holiday in the Vietnamese calendar, with a free day of Lunar New Year festivities, dancing grand lions, karaoke and entertainment at Discovery Green. 10am to 9pm.
- Cambodian Pop Band Dengue Fever at Asia Society Texas Center | Friday, January 31 – Begin the Year of the Horse with a bang as Dengue Fever brings its surf rock, afrobeat, psych rock and spaghetti western sound to Houston. Dengue Fever’s music has been featured on HBO’s True Blood, Showtime’s Weeds and CBS’ CSI: Las Vegas, and in The Hangover Part II. Discount tickets are available.
- Gigi’s Chinese New Year at Gigi’s Asian Bistro and Dumpling Bar | Friday, January 31 – Ring in the Lunar New Year with Champagne cocktails, dumplings and dim sum. DJ Gino and Hao Lion Dancers will help celebrate the holiday in style. Guests are encouraged to come dressed to kill – Shanghai style. 7pm to 10pm. Click here to RSVP.
- Nara’s Lunar New Year Menu | Friday, January 31 through Thursday, February 6 – West Ave’s newest dining hotspot offers a five-course traditional Korean dinner menu celebrating the start of the Lunar New Year, featuring a traditional Korean New Year mondoo dumpling, Kobe beef and sesame leaf omelet and Korean braised short rib with abalone porridge. Celebrants may also choose to dine in Nara’s fantastic new Korean Grill Room.
- 2014 Lunar New Year Festival at Chinese Community Center | FREE | Saturday, February 1 – The celebration extends beyond China at this festival, market and gathering that features zodiac dances, traditional dragon and lion dances, karaoke, an outdoor marketplace, Chinese cultural exhibitions and paintings, tea ceremony, a wide array of Asian foods and more. In addition traditional Chinese performances, the Chinese Community Center’s festival also features performances from Korean, Mexican and Japanese dance groups as well. 10am to 4pm.
- Paper Dragon-Making for Kids at Asia Society Texas Center | FREE | Saturday, February 1 – Kids and parents will learn about East Asian mythology’s most auspicious creature and create a paper dragon themselves, with instruction from Korean-born children’s book artist and author Yangsook Choi. 1pm to 3pm.
- Byejoe Chinese New Year Cocktail Celebration | FREE | Saturday, February 1 – Enjoy free Byejoe cocktails, DJ music from DJ Ceeplus Badknives and DJ Fredster, dancing dragons and ribbon dancers at this swanky soiree sponsored by Byejoe, importers of China’s most popular spirit baijiu, at 2500 Summer St., across from David Adickes’ Beatles statues. 10pm to 2am.
- Byejoe Chinese New Year Cocktail Celebration | FREE | Saturday, February 1 – Enjoy free Byejoe cocktails, DJ music from DJ Ceeplus Badknives and DJ Fredster, dancing dragons and ribbon dancers at this swanky soiree sponsored by Byejoe, importers of China’s most popular spirit baijiu, at 2500 Summer St., across from David Adickes’ Beatles statues. 10pm to 2am.
- Chris Shepherd’s Super Bowl / Chinese New Year Party at Hay Merchant | Sunday, February 2 – Enjoy half price Houston during the game along with Shepherd’s special menu items, including Peking chicken wings, Char Siu and Peking chicken steamed buns, Lap Cheong corn dog, shrimp-fried rice and General Tso’s chicken.
- Lunar New Year Test Kitchen Tuesday at Bar Boheme | Tuesday, February 4 (Rescheduled from January 28) – Join the Asia Society Texas Center Young Professionals for a special Lunar New Year twist on Test Kitchen Tuesday. Chef Rishi Singh will offer up “Lunar Wings,” crispy jumbo chicken wings tossed with tangerine hoisin sauce, topped with toasted crushed peanut and cilantro. 6pm to 9pm.
- Lunar New Year Leo Bar with Chef Christine Ha | Thursday, February 6 – The Asia Society Texas Center mixer for its young professionals features Houston-raised Vietnamese-American Chef Christine Ha, the winner of FOX’s third season of MasterChef. Lily Jang will interview Ha on stage and attendees will be able to enjoy a special tasting menu inspired by the Lunar New Year.
- Texas Lunar Festival at Alief’s Amity Park | FREE | Saturday, February 8 – The 18th annual festival celebrates all of Houston’s cultural influences at Amity Park in Alief. Although the focus is on the Asian heritage and Lunar New Year, Brazilian, Mexican, Bollywood and other cultural performances will be featured. 10am to 5pm
- Lunar New Year Houston 2014 at the Viet Hoa Center | FREE | Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9 – This two-day outdoor festival and market boasts that it will feature 88 lions and dragons in performance, along with a million lucky red firecrackers to ring in the Year of the Green Wood Horse. All are invited to this celebration of all of the Asian cultures represented in Houston, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Cambodian, Filipino and more. Prizes will be given for the best traditional dress from amongst all cultures. 11am to 7pm both days.
- Fung’s Kitchen 5th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration | Tuesday, February 11 – Ring in the Lunar New Year with a full Chinese banquet from celebrity Chef Martin Yan and Fung’s Master Chef Hoi Fung, a lion dance and cultural performances. Wine pairing from Dark Horse Winery. $88 per person.
- Black Hole Coffee House’s 3rd Anniversary and Lunar New Year Celebration | FREE | Sunday, February 16 – Ring in fourth year of the popular coffee house on Graustark with a mash-up that’s also one of the last chances to kick off the Year of the Horse. The Unicorn, Dragon and Lion Dance Team from the Teo Chew Association will perform, followed by live music from Mlee Marie and Hearts of Animals, with barbecue from Jason Wolter. 3pm to 6pm.
Photo credit: J Aaron Farr