RIDGEWOOD -- This year's Lunar New Year Festival, welcoming the Year of the Wood Snake, will be held at Ridgewood High School on Sunday.
The public is invited to attend the festival at the school's Campus Center, 627 E. Ridgewood Ave., from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be hosted by Ridgewood's Asian American and Pacific Islander Alliance, Korean and Indian residents and the Ridgewood Chinese American Association.
"Guests can expect a delicious lunch featuring Korean and Chinese favorites such as lo mein, dumplings and spring rolls," said Alliance co-founder HyunJu Kwak, who sits on the Ridgewood Board of Education. "From Noon to 2 p.m. we will have photo booths, crafts and classic Asian games including the non-violent ones popularized in 'Squid Games.'"
From 2 to 4 p.m., cultural performances will be offered, including traditional "Nanta" Korean folk dancing, a Chinese tea picking dance, instrumental and vocal acts, and a taekwondo demonstration by Hea Sun Jung Korea Traditional Academy of the Arts.
"We will also have various sponsors providing information and prizes, and vendors selling food and wares throughout the day," said Yuni Sockyun Shim, president of the Korean Community of Ridgewood. "We will talk about our cultures and celebrations, show talented performances, and serve delicious food with vegetarian options available."
Tickets, which include lunch, are required and can be purchased online at zeffy.com. Prices are $18 for adults and $12 for youths ages 6-18. Admittance is free for children age 5 and younger. More information is available at www.ridgewoodaapi.org or by emailing [email protected].
Things to do in North Jersey, Jan 23-26: Live music, Lunar New Year celebrations, more
The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, ushers in the most important holiday of the year for many Asian Americans in North Jersey and beyond. Communities around the world celebrate with feasts, festivals, musical performances, lion dances and fireworks.
The Lunar New Year celebration lasts 16 days, beginning with a family dinner and midnight celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 28, on the eve of the new year. On the first day of the holiday - Jan. 29 - families visit each other and exchange monetary gifts in red envelopes. Different activities are traditionally carried out on specific days of the festival, such as the throwing out of unwanted possessions, reserved for the sixth day.
The season concludes with a Lantern Festival, this time falling on Feb. 12.
Under the Lunar New Year Calendar, 2025 is the year of the Wood Snake.
Unlike the Western solar zodiac, which assigns a different symbol to each of the 12 months of the year, the Lunar calendar assigns one of its 12 symbols to an entire lunar year. Each year, a different symbol is rotated with one of five elements - wood, fire, earth, metal and water - to create a unique set of influences for that 12 months.
Over the 60-year rotation of the Chinese zodiac, each of the 12 symbols appears five times, each time with a different element. The Year of the Wood Snake last appeared in 1965. The combination of symbol and element creates unique influences on the year, making 2025 a particularly good year for strengthening relationships. Under the combined influence of snake and wood, people are believed to be more likely to proceed with caution, minimizing conflicts.