...for City of Southlake news, business, and community happenings.
-
- Chinese New Year
Friday, April 19, 2024
Everyone is invited to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the 2nd annual Southlake Spring Festival in Southlake Town Square on January 21!
The Southlake community is hosting its 2nd annual Southlake Spring Festival on Saturday, January 21, 2023! The festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Southlake Town Square, located near 1400 E. Southlake Boulevard, Southlake, TX 76092. Join the festivities on Lunar New Year’s Eve for an afternoon of delicious food, cultural performances, and family-friendly activities showcasing the unique cultures of China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan.
The name Spring Festival, the celebration for the start of the new lunar year in many East Asian countries, is rooted in the lunisolar calendar. In traditional East Asian lunisolar calendars, used primarily for agricultural purposes, a year is divided into 24 solar terms (see the calendar to the right). The first solar term of a lunar year is called the ‘Start of Spring,’ signifying an increase in sunlight for the northern hemisphere of the Earth and the beginning of warmer temperatures. After celebrating the Spring Festival, a new cycle of agricultural activities begins. 
January 21 is Lunar New Year’s Eve, and Southlake Spring Festival has so much in store to celebrate. There will be several photo opportunities to help make every moment memorable, and lots to do! Activities include learning how to write one’s name in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, and Japanese, learning about a traditional tea ceremony, watching cultural performances on the stage, participating in the dragon parade, taking a photo with the lion mascot, and engaging in a variety of artistic crafts!
At Southlake Spring Festival, you can learn much more about lunar/solar New Year activities in many East Asian cultures! For more information about the event, visit the “Southlake Spring Festival” on Facebook.
Southlake Sister Cities and Southlake Public Library invite you to celebrate the start of the Lunar New Year with special events and activities.
It’s the Year of the Pig! A pig represents luck, overall good fortune, wealth, honesty and general prosperity. Those born in the year of the pig are hardworking, peace-loving people who are truthful, generous, reliable, trusting, sincere, giving, and sociable. They have a great sense of humor and patient understanding.
Celebrate the start of the New Year with these special events.
Lunar New Year Story Time
Bring your children, ages 2-5 years, to a special story time event. Southlake Sister Cities will lead a themed story time with stories, songs and hands-on activities to introduce children to this cultural celebration.
Find it: February 5th | 10:45-11:15 a.m. | Southlake Town Hall 3rd Floor
Lantern Workshop
Let’s make lanterns! Bring your own design and supplies to the workshop, or come to make a simple lantern with provided materials. All ages. No registration is required.
Find it: February 16th | 3-5 p.m. | Southlake Town Hall 3rd Floor
Lunar New Year Celebration, Town Square Walk & Reception
Start the evening celebration with live entertainment. Enjoy live performances including a Dragon Dance, Chinese Yoyo, Martial Arts & more. All ages. No registration is required.
Find it: February 16th | 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Southlake Town Square Rustin Pavilion
Lantern Walk and Reception
Light up the night with hope for the New Year. Bring your lanterns (battery operated candles only) to light up the night in Southlake Town Square as we parade through the streets and around McPherson Park pond with a Chinese dragon and music. Follow the parade by celebrating the New Year together with a casual reception in Southlake Town Hall. Parade starts at the Pavilion in Southlake Town Square following the live entertainment. All ages. No registration is required.
Find it: February 16th | 6:30 – 8 p.m. | Southlake Town Square and Town Hall
It’s one of the most colorful events to take place in the City of Southlake. The Lantern Walk literally lights up the sky as it rings in the Chinese New Year.
Friday, February 16, 2018, marked the start of the Lunar Year, also known as the Chinese New Year. It is the most important Chinese Holiday and it will be celebrated across the globe.
Here in Southlake, the Library is hosting a Lantern Workshop on March 3, 2018, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the third floor of Town Hall. Guests are invited to bring their individual design and supplies to the workshop, or participants can use some of the supplies that the Sister Cities organization will be providing, to create their own personal lanterns.
Early voting will be taking place, which will limit the workshop attendance to 40 people per session with two sessions from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. and 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. The lantern workshop is now full but you may request to be on a waiting list. There are no limits on participating in the lantern walk at 7 PM in the Square.
You’ll have plenty of time to create your lantern before joining the parade of lights at dusk, at 7:00 p.m., on the same day (March 3, 2018), in Family Park in front of Town Hall. A reception will be held in the Library following the Lantern Walk.
Southlake has been a Sister City to Suzhou Wuzhong District, China since 2010 and each year a delegation travels to China for a visit, while a group from China travels to Southlake for a week. The group from Southlake is preparing to leave for China next month. It’s a great time of sharing and learning for everyone.
Be sure to mark your calendars now and if you have any questions, just contact the Southlake Library at (817) 748-8243.
The Chinese New Year is officially on Monday, February 8, but the City of Southlake will be hosting events all week to highlight this cultural celebration. The Senior Activity Center, Library, and Southlake Sister Cities will all be celebrating in their own way with events that are both fun and educational.
Monday, February 8: The Southlake Senior Activity Center will be celebrating the Chinese New Year at The Marq Southlake with a catered lunch at noon and dancers at 1:00 PM.
Wednesday, February 10: The Southlake Public Library will be hosting a special Chinese New Year story time at 11:00 AM.
Thursday, February 11: Southlake Sister Cities will be welcoming the Chinese New Year with a special guest speaker and traditional Chinese treats at 6:30 PM.
For more information on these and other events, contact the Southlake Parks and Recreation Department at 817.748.8019.
On Monday, February 8, the Southlake Senior Activity Center will be celebrating the Chinese New Year in Legends Hall at The Marq Southlake. In addition to the Metroport Meals on Wheels catered lunch for $4 at noon, the event will feature Chinese Dancers as well as special Tai Chi Fan and Soared performances by our very own Senior members at 1 pm.
For more information about this and other events/programs at the Senior Activity Center, visit SouthlakeSeniorCenter.com or call 817-748-8315.
The Southlake Public Library and Southlake Sister Cities are partnering to celebrate Chinese New Year with Story Time on Wednesday, February 10 at 11:00 AM. This will be a special cultural story time with songs, treats, books and more.
No need to register, just visit the Library on February 10. For more information on this and other events, visit SouthlakeLibrary.com.
2016 is the Year of the Monkey in Chinese culture and the City of Southlake is ready to celebrate. On Thursday, February 11, the City of Southlake along with Southlake Sister Cities will be hosting an event to welcome the Chinese New Year.
Starting at 6:30 PM on the 3rd Floor in Southlake Town Hall, come enjoy some traditional Chinese treats and learn more about Chinese culture from special guest speaker Dr. Carrie Liu Currier. Dr. Currier is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the Director of Asian Studies at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
The event is free and open to everyone interested in learning more about the Chinese culture.