As Minnesota welcomes the Year of the Snake on January 29, residents with East Asian ties will celebrate a Lunar New Year rooted in tradition. Families and community members will gather over dumplings and rice cake soup, while red envelopes will be exchanged as symbols of luck and prosperity. Events will feature lion dances, orchestral music, taekwondo demonstrations, fashion shows, and a cabaret highlighting the queer Asian American community. 

For Quynh Anh Nguyen, head coordinator of the Vietnamese Student Association, Tết (the Vietnamese Lunar New Year) is a holiday centered around family. 

“Every Lunar New Year, we always have a family gathering,” Nguyen said. “We also exchange lucky money. The adults give children lucky money in red envelopes for good health, and then the children say wishes to the adults.”

Nguyen’s family celebrates with traditional Tết dishes like thit kho (braised pork), bánh chưng (sticky rice cake) and mứt tết (candied fruits). 

“People tend to have family gatherings for two or three days,” she said. “It’s a good time to reconnect and see your relatives.”

Here are 10 events across Minnesota to help you ring in the Year of the Snake:

Colors of the Homeland honors Vietnamese heritage

The University of Minnesota’s Vietnamese Student Association will host its annual Tết Show, featuring University of Minnesota undergraduates, alumni and DTG Lions. This year’s theme, Colors of the Homeland, will guide audiences through different regions of Vietnam, exploring generational connections and immigrant experiences.

“We want to showcase the different aspects of Vietnamese culture — the food, the landmarks, our outfits,” Nguyen said. “One of our main fashion themes this year is adding the lotus flower into modern fashion designs.” 

“These shows create opportunities for students and volunteers outside of our community to learn about the significance of this big holiday for us,” she said. “For a lot of students who are not Vietnamese, it’s also an opportunity for them to connect more with the culture if they want to learn about it.”

Comedy cabaret spotlights queer Asian American artists

Theater Mu will present its third annual Lunar New Year Cabaret Fundraiser, featuring comedy sketches and broadway performances by local queer Asian American theater artists. The evening will explore Asian American representation in classical musical theater and modern portrayals of queer characters in film and television. 

“We’re really excited because our entire 2024-25 season is centered on mainly South Asian and queer stories,” said Wesley Mouri, Theater Mu’s development director. “We thought, what better way than to have all queer artists on stage?”

The event will begin with cocktails, dessert and a lion dance performance by Ha Family Lion Dance Troupe. Mouri will co-host the event alongside interim artistic director Katie Bradley, joined by performers Tyson Insixiengmai, Aaron Komo, Emma Schuld and Dexieng Yang. 

“There’s a common thing that happens within the Asian community of the model minority myth — this idea that our adjacency to privilege or whiteness gives us a better place in the world, but it also forces us to be complacent and complicit in maintaining structures that are harmful to our communities,” Mouri said. “This cabaret, specifically highlighting queer voices, is our way to fight the model minority myth and say, ‘We do not have to conform to any given trope of what it means to be an American.”

Mall of America Lunar New Year Celebration

The Mall of America will celebrate the Lunar New Year with live music and dance performances, including dragon and lion dances, martial arts demonstrations and a fashion show. The event will also feature festive décor such as a Chinese lantern installation and themed photo backdrops with boba samples from Niko Niko Boba. A dragon display will be on view in the North Atrium from February 1 to 28.

Korean New Year Celebration

The Korean Cultural Association will host a Seollal Lunar New Year Celebration, featuring a food and vendor market and performances by JangMi Arts and Lee’s Champion Taekwondo. A traditional tteokguk (rice cake soup) lunch and a minhwa (Korean folk painting) workshop will also be offered.

A snake-themed art workshop

The Xia Gallery & Cafe will host a creative workshop led by Chinese American artist Dawn Wing where participants can create their own pop-out snake book. 

Twin Cities Dumpling Feast 

The Legacy Adult Daycare Center will host the fourth annual Twin Cities Dumpling Feast to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The event will include dumpling-wrapping lessons, Chinese music, a lion dance performance and Chinese riddles. RSVP here by January 31 to attend. 

Chinese New Year Celebration

The Minnesota Chinese Cultural Services Center will host its Twin Cities Chinese New Year Celebration, featuring live performances, lucky money for children and seniors, and food. 

Minnesota Orchestra concert

The Minnesota Orchestra will present a concert featuring performances by pipa player Gao Hong and pianist Ying Li. During intermission, a dragon dance will be performed by the Alliance of Minnesota Chinese Organizations and CAAM Chinese Dance Theater.

Serpent’s Charm fashion show

The Serpent’s Charm fashion project will celebrate the Lunar New Year with a snake-themed fashion show, blending contemporary and traditional styles by Asian American and Pacific Islander designers and models. The project will also feature a photography exhibit at Xia Gallery & Cafe, displaying the collection’s lookbook from February 15 to March 15.

Lunar Love celebrates two traditions

The Indigenous Roots Cultural Art Center will host Lunar Love, a celebration combining Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. The event will include a lion dance, an Asian vendor market, and food from Zao Bakery and Cafe and Ho Ho Gourmet. Attendees can also participate in an art activity with artist Xee Reiter, creating love letters or envelopes for New Year’s resolutions using calligraphy and hand lettering.