2025 Downtown Akron Lunar New Year Celebration Welcomes 1,000 to Usher the Year of the Snake

On the wintry Saturday afternoon and evening of February 15, 2025, just over a thousand people settled into the vibrant red and gold of the Akron Civic Theatre to welcome the Year of the Snake during the Downtown Akron Lunar New Year Celebration. This was the 4^th iteration of this beloved program, which has its roots in a partnership with the National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School.

Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year in East and Southeast Asian cultures. It’s a time to honor ancestors and deities, to visit family and feast. It’s observed in China, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and the Philippines, and festivities last a full two weeks from the lunar year’s first new moon to its first full moon.

This year, we once again kicked off the celebration with a Culture Fair in the Grand Lobby and Knight Stage spaces of the Akron Civic Theatre. This consisted of seven retail vendors selling their wares, four nonprofit organizations sharing information and resources with the public, seven local food vendors—including downtown establishments Boiling House Seafood & Sushi Bar, Evelyn’s Coffee & Banh Mi, and Cilantro Thai & Sushi—and six stations offering free activities, like crafts, a trivia game, and photo opportunities, to guests.

One of these free activities was a coloring contest. Outlines of this year’s poster artwork, designed by Chi-Irena Wong, were printed on sheets of copy paper, and plenty of coloring supplies were provided. People of all ages put their own unique spins on the artwork and submitted it for a chance to win prizes consisting of Lego sets inspired by Lunar New Year, Downtown Akron Dollars E-Gift Cards, and art supplies. The entries were judged by Wong, and the winners were announced during the evening performance’s intermission.

The evening performance began at 6 pm on the Civic’s splendorous main stage. As in years past, we kicked off the night with the traditional Lion Dance, performed by Kwan Lion Dance, who has been performing the dance for more than 40 years. A number of other beloved performers from years past took to the stage, as well: The Cleveland Glory Waist Drum Team, Grand Master Sen Gao, the Akron Chinese School, Emily Su, the Karen Culture Dance Academy, Stellar Acrobatic Dance Academy, and of course, learners from NIHF STEM Middle School performing the traditional Dragon Dance.

To supplement an already impressive lineup, new artists were added to the mix this year: Blooming Flower Dance Group, an Akron-based Hmong cultural dance group; Myong Feinstein, performing a Korean Arirang dance; the Cleveland Phoenix Club, a Chinese-American dance group; the Ohio Samul Nori, a Columbus-based group playing traditional Korean percussion music; and LingYun Rising Star Gymnastics Dance School, which joined Stellar Acrobatic Dance Academy for a number of graceful, moving performances at the end of the show.

The night was capped with a vibrant display of fireworks, which eventgoers viewed from the beautifully revamped Lock 3, adjacent to the Civic.

The 2025 Downtown Akron Lunar New Year Celebration was presented by Downtown Akron Partnership, with generous support from the City of Akron, Knight Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, Lock 3, GAR Foundation, Akron Community Foundation, and the Akron Civic Theatre. Other community partners included the Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron Public Schools, National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School, Asian Services in Action, METRO RTA, The University of Akron Zips Activity Board, and the Lunar New Year Planning Committee.