Celebrating the Year of the Rabbit CultureFest! Lunar New Year at the Penn Museum
PHILADELPHIA—In partnership with the American Chinese Museum, the Penn Museum hops into the Year of the Rabbit with its 42nd annual CultureFest! Lunar New Year, on Saturday, January 21, 2023 from 10:00 am-4:00 pm.
A family-friendly festival designed for everyone to learn more about diverse cultural traditions, CultureFest! Lunar New Year features live music and dance performances, storytelling, art-making for all ages, and a marketplace filled with vendors. It culminates with a grand finale—a traditional Lion Dance.
Lunar New Year begins with the first new moon and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. It is an important festival in China and many other Asian countries, explains Li L. Edwards, the Executive Director of the American Chinese Museum.
“We also call it ‘Spring Festival,’ which means the beginning of spring and a new round of agricultural production,” Edwards says. “The customs of celebrating Lunar New Year include pasting Spring Festival couplets (poetry lines about health and prosperity) onto front doors; buying New Year’s goods; and having family dinners. We also like to wear new clothes, particularly in shades of red, and gift money in red envelopes for a year of good fortune and blessings.”
The lineup of CultureFest! Lunar New Year activities includes:
- a dance performance from the Little Mulan Dance Troupe from the Great Wall Chinese School at 10:30 am in Harrison Auditorium
- storytelling about Lunar New Year at 11:45 am in the Sphinx Gallery
- musical performances with traditional Chinese instruments like the zither and ehru, a two-string, violin-like instrument played with a bow at noon in the Egypt Gallery
- dance performances blending traditional and modern moves at 1:00 pm in Harrison Auditorium
- live performance from the Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society at 2:30 pm in Harrison Auditorium, and
- the traditional Lion Dance finale, performed by the University of Pennsylvania’s premier lion dance troupe, Penn Lions, at 3:45 pm in Harrison Auditorium.
“Since 1981, CultureFest! Lunar New Year has grown to be one of our most popular events,” says Tena Thomason, Associate Director of Public Engagement at the Penn Museum. “As part of the Museum’s mission in fostering cross-cultural understanding, we welcome everyone to learn more about this holiday that began as a time to rest from farm work and to be with loved ones.”
All CultureFest! Lunar New Year activities are included with Museum admission. Children ages five and under, teachers, U.S. military veterans with identification, as well as Penn Museum members visit for free.
The entire line-up can be found here.
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About the Penn Museum
The Penn Museum’s mission is to be a center for inquiry and the ongoing exploration of humanity for our University of Pennsylvania, regional, national, and global communities, following ethical standards and practices.
Through conducting research, stewarding collections, creating learning opportunities, sharing stories, and creating experiences that expand access to archaeology and anthropology, the Museum builds empathy and connections across diverse cultures
The Penn Museum is open Tuesday-Sunday, 10:00 am-5:00 pm. It is open until 8:00 pm on first Wednesdays of the month. The Café is open Tuesday-Thursday, 9:00 am-3:00 pm and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 am-3:00 pm. On Sundays, the Café is open 10:30 am-2:30 pm. For information, visit www.penn.museum, call 215.898.4000, or follow @PennMuseum on social media.
About the American Chinese Museum
The American Chinese Museum promotes America’s diverse cultural heritage by collecting, preserving, and sharing American Chinese history, culture, and art. It serves as a center for research and learning, inspiring and connecting audiences with American Chinese experiences, with the goal of promoting mutual understanding, mutual respect, and mutual learning between people of all backgrounds. For more information, visit https://usaacm.org/.