Preparations underway for Lunar New Year celebration at Bellevue Square

For 12 years, the Lunar New Year celebration has been kicking off at Bellevue Square, but it went virtual in the past few years because of the pandemic.

This year, the celebration is back in person and bigger than ever!

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“Let me tell you this, our (number of) volunteers is 115,” said Taidi Fang, founder of the Seattle Chinese Culture and Arts Association.

You can expect to see something new every hour starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. Everything from performances and music, to arts and crafts.

“My goal is to promote cultural difference and bring people more harmony,” said Fang. “To teach our second generation. Even every year the American people always call Bellevue Collection asking for this,” Fang said.

An exciting performance you can look forward to Saturday is kung fu from students at the Seattle Shaolin Kung Fu Academy.

“It changed my life a lot, you know, power energy, not too many think it helps the body and mind.” said Lei Zhou, head teacher at the academy.

You can’t kick off the festivities without a crowd favorite — the lion dance! Maun Louie from International Lion Dance Team continues to keep the tradition going every year since 1985.

“There’s a lot of people, you can see them on the second floor watching us, I started when I was a kid and now I’m bringing my children onto the team and it makes me proud to bring my children to perform for the first time there, it’s exciting,” Louie said.

The Lunar New Year celebration at Bellevue Square kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday. Arrive early to snag a spot and wear red to boost your luck!

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