Less than a month after the Times Square ball drops, the Sharon community will be having another new year’s celebration. This time, residents will be commemorating Chinese New Year. To celebrate this holiday, the Sharon Chinese Association will be hosting the twenty-fifth annual Chinese Spring Festival Gala on Saturday, February 1 at Sharon Middle School.

Chinese New Year is a holiday that marks the start of the new year in the ancient Chinese Lunisolar Calendar. Every year, over a billion people throughout China celebrate this holiday; other parts of Asia and the rest of the world observe it as Lunar New Year. In 2025, Chinese New Year will fall on January 29, the first day of the Year of the Snake. 

Although Chinese New Year is celebrated worldwide, each family has their own way of ushering in the new year. Some of the holiday’s most famous traditions include reuniting over a family dinner, giving hong bao, watching lion dances, and perhaps the biggest celebration of all: watching the National Chinese New Year Gala live on TV.

The National Chinese New Year Gala, also called Chunwan, has a special place in Chinese culture. Similar to America’s New Year’s Eve party in Times Square, but on a much bigger scale, Chunwan is the biggest Chinese New Year event in China and is broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers in real time. It consists of hourslong programs of Chinese traditional music, dance, comedy, and theater.

In honor of Chinese New Year, and to celebrate Chinese culture here in Sharon, the Sharon Chinese Association will be hosting its own Sharon Spring Festival Gala on Saturday, February 1 at Sharon Middle School. 

According to Xinlu Li, President of the Sharon Chinese Association, the Sharon Spring Festival started as a small house party in 2000. “They actually just started with a potluck and asked the participants and the kids to perform. It was not really formal at the beginning. They didn’t have a stage,” Li explained. 

Over the course of 25 years, the Sharon Spring Festival evolved into something more than just a family-and-friends event; it began to attract audience members from across town, move into an auditorium, and incorporate new programs.

Now, the galas consist of roughly twenty events, with people of all ages participating onstage. Examples of past performances include traditional and contemporary dance, martial arts performances, fashion shows, musical instruments, and singing. Together, these performances provide multiple hours of entertainment for audience members.

For Li, the best part of the Spring Festival Gala is watching younger performers. “This is a great event and opportunity for them to be a part of, to learn what the Chinese culture is, and gives them a platform to show what they learned,” she said.

Li also sees the Spring Festival as a way to bring the Sharon Chinese community together and continue to embrace Chinese culture. “Most of the [younger gala attendees] don’t have much exposure to Chinese culture,” Li explained. “I think it’s a very important part of their lives, and it is helpful for them to embrace this culture in their lives.”

Now, Li hopes to expand the Spring Festival Gala to other cultures as well. “We hope to have more programs and volunteers from other groups to get involved,” Li said. “Maybe next year, we’ll have a more broad event to incorporate different groups from the Sharon area.”

The Sharon Chinese Association is looking for additional performers and volunteers for their annual Chinese New Year Spring Festival Gala on February 1, 2025. 

To find out more about the Sharon Chinese New Year Gala, click here or contact the Sharon Chinese Association at [email protected].