Lunar New Year Festival: Year of the Snake

Come welcome the Year of the Snake with a vibrant festival heralding new beginnings and the coming of spring! Enjoy a scavenger hunt, art making and guided tours of Yin Yu Tang.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian countries, including China, Vietnam, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. While some traditions are shared across countries, others are unique to one region, community or national cultural identity. Our programming this year focuses on Chinese cultural traditions.

Please note that museum galleries will not open until after the morning performance concludes.

Dance Performance - Gund Kwok: Asian Women’s Lion and Dragon Dance Troupe

10:30-11:30 am - Main Atrium

Dragon Quest and art making will be available to morning ticketholders beginning at 11:30 am.

1 pm: Museum opens for general admission

1–4 pm: Drop-In Art Making: Decorating Red Envelopes

East India Marine Hall

Decorate your own red envelope, a symbol of luck and prosperity in Chinese culture. Suitable for all ages.

1–5 pm: Dragon Quest

Ground Level, Level 2 and Level 3

Explore all three levels of the museum on the hunt for dragons and snakes! Claim your prize in the Garden Atrium. Suitable for all ages.

1:15–1:45 pm: Outdoor Dance Performance - Gund Kwok: Asian Women’s Lion and Dragon Dance Troupe

Essex Street in front of the museum’s Main Entrance

Experience the energy and grace of Gund Kwok, the first all-Asian women’s Lion and Dragon Dance troupe in the U.S. Stick around after the performance for a chance to interact with the performers and meet their dragons up close!

In the event of rain or inclement weather, the dragons will greet visitors inside the Main Atrium and roam throughout the museum instead.

1:15-4:15 pm: Self-Guided Tours - Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

Every 30 minutes
Reservations required. Limited same-day tickets available at the Information desk beginning at 1 pm.
Yin Yu Tang - translated as “Hall of Plentiful Shelter” — was home to the Huang family for nearly two hundred years. For over 20 years, Yin Yu Tang has been a gateway into understanding the art and culture of generations of families living and working in rural Southeastern China.

Yin Yu Tang is currently undergoing work to preserve its roof tiles and masonry walls. During your visit, scaffolding may be present and work may be actively underway. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

About the Artists

Gund Kwok was founded in February 1998 as the first all-Asian women's Lion and Dragon Dance troupe in the United States. The troupe, whose name means “heroine” in Chinese, empowers Asian and Asian American women by giving them an opportunity to express their creativity, power and strength through performing the lion and dragon dances.

Enjoy videos from our Yin Yu Tang interpretive theater that explore various aspects of Chinese culture, including Lunar New Year. Special thanks to the Long Bow Group for the use of these videos.

Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese House

Experience the journey of this 200-year old Chinese house as it is dismantled in its village, shipped to America and re-erected at the Peabody Essex Museum. The significance of homes and the families they shelter in Chinese culture is presented through vivid images of construction techniques and ceremonies and through interviews with Huang family members and participants in the Yin Yu Tang project.

Runtime: 17 minutes, 20 seconds

Guo Nian: Passage into a New Year

Lunar New Year festivities in China often last two weeks and entail days of preparation. This film documents contemporary celebrations in the Huizhou region (the original home of Yin Yu Tang) and records reminiscences of New Years past.

Runtime: 16 minutes, 38 seconds

Guomen: A Village Wedding

A young woman and her family prepare for her wedding in a village near Huang Cun, the original home of Yin Yu Tang. In the groom's household, they are readying the new couple's bedroom and a grand wedding feast. The bride, her father and others describe the traditional rituals, while elders – some of them former residents of Yin Yu Tang – recall their own weddings.

Runtime: 16 minutes, 19 seconds

Location: Main Atrium and East India Marine Hall

Know before you go:

10 am-1 pm: Advanced ticketholder access only. Museum galleries will not be open until after the morning performance concludes.

1–5 pm: Museum opens for general admission and non-ticketed programming.

The afternoon Gund Kwok performance may be adapted to an indoor event in the event of rain or inclement weather.

The Atrium Café will not be open until 1 pm. Purchase from a select menu of Lunar New Year snacks at our café pop-up in East India Marine Hall.

The Museum Shop is open from 10 am–5 pm. Yin Yu Tang timed tickets will not be available to reserve until 1 pm.

Limited, same-day Yin Yu Tang tour tickets are available on a first-come, first served basis beginning at 1 pm.

Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025

Time: 10 am - 5 pm

Location: Peabody Essex Museum

East India Square, 161 Essex Street,  Salem, MA 01970

Click here for more information