Gong Xi Fa Cai! Celebrating Lunar New Year
By • January 16, 2025 0 11
Hey Boomer, were you born in 1953?
If so — or if you’re a Gen X-er born in 1965 or 1977, a Millennial born in 1989 or a Gen Z-er born in 2001 — this is your year: the Year of the Snake.
(Any Silent Gen readers out there? If you were born in 1941, this applies to you too.)
The Snake is the sixth animal sign in the Chinese zodiac. The other 11: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig (that’s me, though I prefer “Boar”). By the way, the Vietnamese zodiac substitutes Buffalo for Ox and Cat for Rabbit.
Note: If you were born in January or February, your zodiac animal may be the one for the prior year. Consult your astrologist.
Before you go around flaunting your scales, Snake People, here’s the catch: bad luck is brewing. Tai Sui, the star or deity that aligns with Jupiter in your zodiac year, is jealous.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to ward off trouble. First, wear something red (socks and underwear are popular choices), purchased for you by a family member or friend. Accessorize with jade. And face your furniture northeast (only Snake People, only this year).
Now that that’s out of the way, let me be the first to wish you, whatever your zodiac animal, “Gong xi fa cai (gong-sshee-faa-tseye),” Mandarin for “happiness and prosperity.” I’m not going to attempt a Korean or Vietnamese greeting — maybe next year — though Lunar New Year is also celebrated in North and South Korea, in Vietnam and by the Korean and Vietnamese diasporas (but not in Japan).
The Lunar New Year officially starts on Wednesday, Jan. 29, the beginning of the two-week Spring Festival. However, what claims to be “the grandest and most vibrant celebration of the Lunar New Year in the entire East Coast,” the La Vang Lunar New Year Festival, will take place this Saturday, Jan. 18, and Sunday, Jan. 19, at the Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Presented by Our Lady of La Vang Mission, which serves Vietnamese-speaking Catholics, the festival runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Single-day tickets, available via Eventbrite, are $10 (free for students with ID and children under 12).
Celebrating Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, at Eden Center in Falls Church, Virginia. Courtesy Capital Commercial Properties.
The commercial hub of the region’s Vietnamese American community shifted in the 1980s from what was known as “Little Saigon” in Clarendon to Eden Center, a strip mall with an Asian-style entrance arch at 6763 Wilson Boulevard in Falls Church. Last August, President-elect Donald Trump made a campaign stop at one of Eden Center’s 30-some restaurants, Truong Tien, in support of Senate candidate Hung Cao, who later lost to Tim Kaine. This year, incidentally, is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Eden Center’s celebration of the Lunar New Year — known as Tet in Vietnamese — will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 29, starting at noon.
In Washington, D.C., the Kennedy Center will present a festive Millennium Stage performance of cross-cultural music by Chinese American alto saxophonist and singer Stephanie Chou and her quintet on Saturday, Jan. 25. Then, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, the National Ballet of China, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the National Children’s Chorus of the United States will perform “Chinese New Year,” a two-act ballet inspired by “The Nutcracker,” set to Tchaikovsky’s score.
D.C.’s Chinese New Year Parade, organized by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in partnership with the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, will step off at 6th and Eye Streets NW at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2, rain or shine.
The day before, Saturday, Feb. 1, the Smithsonian’s celebration of the Lunar New Year will start with family fun from 1 to 3 p.m. at the National Museum of Asian Art, 1050 Independence Ave. SW, followed by a Lunar New Year Market from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Arts + Industries Building, 900 Jefferson Drive SW.
Other Lunar New Year events (details on Eventbrite) are set for: Saturday, Jan. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Atrium Building, 277 S. Washington St., in Old Town Alexandria; Saturday, Jan. 25, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the University Club DC, 1135 16th St. NW; and Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Central Place Plaza, 1800 N. Lynn St. in Arlington.
Also, the Korean-American Bar Association of Washington DC will hold a Seollal Party (Seollal being the Korean name for the Lunar New Year) on Wednesday, Jan. 29, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Succotash, 915 F St. NW, with tickets available until Jan. 23 on TicketTailor.
