2026 Downtown Akron Lunar New Year Celebration Welcomes 1,000+ to Kick Off the Year of the Horse

The 5^th annual Downtown Akron Lunar New Year Celebration took place on Saturday, February 28—once again inside the jewel of Main Street, the Akron Civic Theatre. This year, we celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Horse with a culture fair and performances on the main stage of the theater.

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.

The culture fair kicked off the event from 3:30 to 6 pm in the Civic’s Grand Lobby and Knight Stage spaces. The culture fair, which we hold each year ahead of performances, offers an opportunity for visitors of all ages to enjoy hands-on crafts and activities, take photos with event performers, engage with resource providers and food and retail vendors, and learn about traditions associated with the holiday.

This year, attendees created paper lanterns; tried their hands at a stained-glass horse craft, submitted entries to a coloring contest; donated canned goods to Asian Services in Action, Inc. (ASIA); learned about the zodiac, Chinese calligraphy, and traditional tea ceremonies; and had event posters signed by this year’s featured artist, Thao Nguyen.

Retail vendors with tables at the culture fair included Julia Belle’s Seasonings, Rubs & Mixes; Wabi Sabi by Mai; Rotten Boi; Otaku’s Haven; Chi Irena Wong; and Maya Scarpa Illustration. This year’s food vendors included Liquid Lab & Studio, Evelyn’s Coffee & Bánh Mì, Cilantro Thai & Sushi, and Red Bean Bakes.

At 5 pm, doors opened for fairgoers to begin finding their seats ahead of the 6 pm performances. As in the past, the show began with the traditional Lion Dance performed by Kwan Lion Dance, who has been performing the dance for more than 40 years. They were followed by performances by the Cleveland Glory Waist Drum Team, Grand Master Sen Gao, Blooming Flower Dance Group, Cleveland Phoenix Club, Myong Feinstein, Akron Chinese Club, the Ohio Samul Nori, NIHF STEM Middle School learners, LingYun Rising Star Dance School and Stellar Acrobatic Dance Academy, Soaring Grace Dance Group, and Five Lakes Chinese Ensemble.

Planning committee member and event emcee Elaine Tso introduced each group and told the audience about the significance of the performances. She also interviewed George Kwan and Grand Master Gao onstage, allowing them to speak about their art in their own words.

Following the performances, as in years past, the NIHF STEM Middle School learners in dragon costume led the crowd out to Lock 3, where we ended the night with fireworks over downtown Akron.

This year, we offered attendees the opportunity to share their feedback with us through an event experience survey. We asked respondents to tell us about their favorite aspects of the event, whether they plan to come back next year, what difficulties (if any) they experienced at the event, and what ideas they may have for future iterations of the celebration.

Our hearts were warmed by the overwhelmingly positive feedback received, such as:

“I absolutely loved this event all the art and craft activities, vendors with cultural food, and the performances…It was my first time [and] I enjoyed receiving the red packets all the cultural elements included. Also, being able to donate food to help others, and the coloring contest was so much fun to participate in, as well as meeting the artist who designed the poster.”

We are also excited to implement some of the more constructive comments we received from respondents, and we are grateful to so many people for taking the time to share their thoughts on the celebration with us.

Next February, we will welcome the Year of the Goat. Stay tuned for a formal date announcement and additional details.

The 2026 Downtown Akron Lunar New Year Celebration was presented by the Downtown Akron Partnership with the generous support of the City of Akron, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, Lock 3, GAR Foundation, Akron Community Foundation, Akron Children's Hospital, Akron Children's Museum, the Akron Civic Theatre, and the Downtown Akron Lunar New Year planning committee. Additional community partners included Akron Public Schools, NIHF STEM Middle School, Asian Services in Action, Akron METRO RTA, and the University of Akron Zips Activity Board.