Chinatown Hosts Lantern Celebration Today
ThinkChinatown is holding its Super Saturday Lantern Celebration today, February 28, to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The community event, featuring cultural festivities, is taking place from 3-5pm at 1 Pike Street in Manhattan.
The Lantern Festival traditionally marks the final day of Chinese New Year celebrations, occurring on the 15th day of the first lunar month. This year, the official date falls on March 3, 2026. The tradition of lighting lanterns dates back over 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty. Red lanterns, a staple of the celebration, are symbolic of good fortune, happiness, and are believed to ward off evil spirits. The festival's timing with the first full moon of the lunar new year also signifies family togetherness and reunion. The celebration's host, Think!Chinatown, is a non-profit organization co-founded by director Yin Kong. The group works to foster intergenerational community in Manhattan's Chinatown through arts, storytelling, and neighborhood engagement. Think!Chinatown has previously received grants for its work in preserving the history and culture of the neighborhood. The organization's projects often focus on supporting small businesses and using art to advocate for the community. A traditional food eaten during the festival is tangyuan, which are sweet glutinous rice balls. Their round shape symbolizes family harmony and wholeness for the new year. Other common festivities include lion and dragon dances, which are thought to bring good luck and deter evil spirits, and the tradition of writing riddles on the lanterns for people to solve. The event takes place at 1 Pike Street, a street named after Zebulon Pike, a hero from the War of 1812.
