Bring the family to Chicago to celebrate Chinese New Year with multiple events February 17-March 3, and stay at the nearby and affordable Chicago Lake Shore Hotel in historic Hyde Park!
Chinese New Year is a very big and festive deal in Chicago, with activities for all ages. On February 17, the Chicago Symphony will be celebrating by presenting traditional Chinese music and dance. On February 25, the Chinatown Parade sets off. Its northside counterpoint, the Argyle Lunar New Year Parade takes place on February 24. And to cap it off, The Art Institute will hold a Chinese Lantern Celebration on March 3!
For the Year of the Dog, CSO welcomes the Chonqing Chuanju Opera Theatre, who will perform acrobatic choreography to selections from traditional Chinese opera. The Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra will play selections on traditional Chinese instruments, including traditional folk melodies. For tickets, location and time, go online to https://www.timeout.com/chicago/music/ chinese-new-year-concert-at-symphony-center#booking.
A day before Chinatown kicks off the Lunar New Year, Argyle Street celebrates the Year of the Dog with a procession on the North side of town. The parade starts with a bang at the Argyle Red Line stop, as firecrackers explode to ring in the New Year. Parade floats, marchers, and dragon dancers will head down Argyle, from Broadway to Winthrop Avenue. Free.
According to the Chinese calendar, 2018 is the Year of the Dog. Head to the Chinatown on February 25, to celebrate at the area’s annual parade, which will feature a marching band, traditional dragon, lion dances and decorative floats. Free! And, oh, those many fabulous Chinese restaurants! Not free!
Close out the 2018 Chinese New Year festivities on March 3 with the Art Institute of Chicago. First explore their exhibition, “Mirroring China’s Past: Emperors, Scholars and their Bronzes,” which digs into Chinese decorative arts from the first and second millennia BC. Then, take in traditional Chinese music, lantern-making workshops and festive bites and sips in the museum cafe. The whole event culminates in a procession of lit lanterns at sundown. Admission is regular museum price. 111 South Michigan Avenue. https://www.timeout.com/chicago/museums/art-institute-of-chicago-chicago-il.
Make your Chinese New Year experience more enjoyable by staying at the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel, in Hyde Park. The hotel offers free shuttle bus service to and from the Loop area and is close to bus and train services. Enjoy the free breakfast. The Lake Shore Café offers lunch and dinner. AND Jazz and seafood buffet (non-seafood items available) Friday nights.