South Street Seaport Museum to Celebrate Lunar New Year with Free Event
Lunar New Year festivities at South Street Seaport Museum feature lion dances and family activities
By: A.A. Cristi Feb. 02, 2026
Kick off your Lunar New Year celebrations with the South Street Seaport Museum and welcome the Year of the Horse at one of the city's first festivities of the season! Bring the whole family to participate in a day filled with free General Admission to the Seaport Museum, multiple lion dance performances, and hands-on activities to enrich your visit to the Museum.
Feel the excitement as lively lion dancers leap and twirl aboard the 1885 tall ship Wavertree at 2pm, then follow the fun as the lions parade down Fulton Street, passing the Museum's Schermerhorn Row galleries. The celebration continues with another energetic performance at 2:30pm in front of the Museum's Bowne & Co., Stationers shop and A.A. Thomson & Co. exhibition galleries on Water Street. Afterward, don't miss a special family photo opportunity with the lions at 3pm-a perfect moment to commemorate the day.
From 2:30 to 4:30pm, kids and adults alike can join a maritime-inspired craft activity and create their own festive Lion Chain to take home.
Access to the lion dances is included in your free General Admission ticket to the Seaport Museum. Tickets are free but preregistration is encouraged. Walkups will be accommodated as possible. Book free general admission and lion dance here.
Nautical Chinese Lion Chains
2:30-4:30pm | 207 Water Street | Free
Continue the Lunar New Year celebration with a hands-on, maritime-inspired craft! Create your own Chinese Lion Chain decoration using colorful paper links inspired by the signal flags sailors use to communicate at sea. It's a festive activity for all ages and a fun way to blend Lunar New Year traditions with seafaring creativity.
Drop in anytime between 2:30 and 4:30pm to participate-no time slot required. Activities are first-come, first-served, with last admission at 4:30pm. Tickets are free but preregistration is encouraged. Walkups will be accommodated as space allows. Book here.
About Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation
Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation (CPLDC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, serving the Manhattan Chinatown, with a mission to act in the public interest by conceiving, designing, implementing, managing, and facilitating economic development projects that benefit residents and organizations in Chinatown in New York City as well as the general public visiting the Chinatown Area through qualitative and quantitative researches, marketing and promotions, and capital public improvements/projects.
The LiveOnNY Foundation supports education and awareness of the lifesaving impact of organ and tissue donation and programs benefitting both donor families and transplant patients through their journeys.
Access to the historic ships and exhibition galleries at the Seaport Museum is included with your ticket to this event. You may visit any time between 11am and 5pm on the day of your event. General Admission brings you aboard the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and 1908 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16, and into all current exhibitions on view in the first-floor Schermerhorn Row galleries at 12 Fulton Street. Your ticket also sets you on course to explore Maritime City, the Seaport Museum's immersive, three-floor exhibition at A.A. Thomson & Co., located at 213 Water Street. seaportmuseum.org/admission
About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of "Where New York Begins." seaportmuseum.org
Videos