Celebrate Lunar New Year In Metuchen On Feb. 12

METUCHEN, NJ — Chinese New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year 2022 fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 1-2, starting off the year of the tiger with celebrations that include parades, food, and other cultural traditions over the next couple of weeks.

Metuchen Downtown Alliance and the Metuchen Human Relations Commission are celebrating Lunar New Year on Feb. 12, 11 a.m., at the Town Plaza. Learn about the culture and history of this special day, dance with Lion Dancers, and enjoy crafts and stories.

Lion Dancer performance starts at 11 a.m. at the Metuchen Town Plaza and will proceed through Main Street.

Many local businesses have something special to offer that day. Here are the details:

• Genus Boni, 432 Main Street: Get 10 percent off all specialty teas
• NewMarket Metuchen, 19 New Street: Children’s storytime. Learn about the lion head used in traditional lion dancing
• Papillon & Co., 418 Main Street: Sobina Chi Kanter to perform a live, intimate jazz piano performance.
• Pastry Lu, 397 Main Street: Enjoy special pastries to celebrate Lunar New Year.
• Picture Perfect Studio, 507 Middlesex Avenue: Special Lunar New Year in-studio photography session. Call or visit their website to book.
• What’s the Scoop, 457 Main Street: Make origami tigers to celebrate the year of the tiger and enjoy special ice cream flavors.

Chinese New Year is a 15-day festival in China and in Asian communities around the world that falls sometime between Jan. 21-Feb. 20 on Western calendars every year, but simultaneously with the new moon. It's also called Lunar New Year for that reason — and called Spring Festival because, in China, people receive seven days off work for relaxation.

This year, the celebration begins as the year of the ox draws to a close Monday with the traditional Chinese New Year's Eve, and ends Feb. 15 with the Lantern Festival.

Staples of these festivals are dragon dances, a ritual in which dancers carry a colorful dragon — a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture — in a long procession through the streets.