Come Celebrate the Chinese New Year

On Saturday, January 17, come celebrate the Chinese New Year with the Chinese-American Association of Tulsa

On Saturday, January 17, come celebrate the Chinese New Year with the Chinese-American Association of Tulsa. The Spring Festival will be held at 7 p.m. at Tulsa Community College’s VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education, located at 81st and Highway 169.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. The date on which Chinese New Year’s Day occurs is determined by the lunar calendar – it begins with the first new moon that occurs between January 21 and February 19. This year, that’s January 26. According to the Chinese zodiac, it is the year of the ox and according to the Chinese calendar is the year 4707.

The schedule of events for the Chinese New Year celebration will include a demonstration of kung fu, a dragon dance (featuring at least ten people in one dragon costume), performances of traditional Chinese music, a fashion show representing China’s 56 distinct cultures, a cross-talk show featuring humorous Chinese horoscopes, singing and dancing, and more. All the performers are volunteers from the Chinese-American Association.

Tickets for this event are extremely limited. In the past, the festival has drawn as many as 1,200 people, and the venue holds 1,500. Tickets are only $2, and non-members are welcome, but interested parties should call promptly.

“We’ve done this celebration annually for five years,” says Jenny Chen, president of the Chinese-American Association. “Chinese New Year is a big holiday for us, and we like to gather together to celebrate. It’s exciting.”

The Chinese-American Association has been in Tulsa for 32 years. It is made up completely of volunteers. Chen is in her fifth year of service with them. “We’re here to serve the community,” she says. “We provide services to the Chinese community here, and we provide information about Tulsa to newcomers. Every year, we celebrate Chinese New Year, the Dragon Boats Festival, and the Moon Festival. Our goal is to maintain Chinese culture here in America.”

The Chinese-American Association also hosts golf, tennis, table tennis, badminton, and bridge tournaments each year. Non-members are welcome to these events.

On Saturday, January 24 at 11:30 a.m., the Chinese-American Association is hosting a traditional Chinese dinner at the Royal Dragon restaurant at 51st and Memorial. This dinner will feature prize drawings and games, and the Chinese-American Association will give away some gifts.

“Chinese New Year is about good luck and having a bright start to the year,” says Chen. “We love to celebrate, and we welcome everyone to come and celebrate our Chinese heritage with us.”

For more information on these and other events put on by the Chinese-American Association of Tulsa, including ticket information, call Jenny Chen at (918) 254-0648. Tickets are limited. You can visit the Chinese-American Association on the web at

www.tulsa-chinese.org (the site is in Chinese). 

For more information, contact

Chinese-American Association of Tulsa

(918) 254-0648

www.tulsa-chinese.org