Thursday, March 28, 2024

Southlake Spring Festival 2023 Returns for 2nd Annual Celebration

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.  Graphic displaying lunisolar calendar.

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.

 

Celebrate the Lunar New Year

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