The Lunar New Year or Spring Festival is commonly referred to as Chinese New Year, Tet in Vietnamese, Seollal in Korean, Losar in Tibet, and Tsagaan Sar in Mongolian. There was a two-day celebration of Lunar New Year at Asia Plaza as we entered the Year of the Fire Horse. ClevelandPeople.com was honored to be a Media Sponsor and have a table at the event.
Here are some highlights from the two-day event.
There were a variety of vendors, community resources, performances and people watching! Recognize anyone?  Parijata Jain painting a face
See some photos of people at Lunar New Year
Silk Road Cultural Collective at Lunar New Year at Asia Plaza
The Silk Road Cultural Collective is a nonprofit dedicated to preserve, celebrate, and share the rich cultural heritage of Asia and Eurasia through immersive performance, education, community engagement, and interactive cultural experiences. MC Wayne Wong introduced Dan Hanson, one of the founders, who told about the Silk Road. Then members of the Collective performed in traditional Chinese Hanfu and authentic armor. Participants included Wayne Wong (Ming), Jennifer Lynn Anderson (Tang), Sofi Vaattovaara (Tang), Lisa Caraballo (Tang), Siu Yan Scott "Small Meadow Flower" (Tang), Lisa Wong (Ming), Martin King (Tang), Kat Szeto (Ming), John Cosma (Ming), Terry Giancaterino (Ming), Dorjan Scott (Tang), Nik Palmer (Ming), Johnny K. Wu (Tang).
 Sifu John Cosma
See more pictures and video of the Silk Road Cultural Collective
Indonesian Community of Cleveland
The Cleveland Indonesian community demonstrated their proud heritage at the 2026 Lunar New Year celebration in Cleveland's AsiaTown. They had a busy resource table and gave terrific performances.
Cleveland Indonesian community
See video and photos of the Indonesian community on Lunar New Year
Cleveland Glory Waist Drum TeamThe Cleveland Glory Waist Drum Team performed their rhythmic and colorful dances both days of the event. Cleveland Glory Waist Drum Team
See video and photos of the Cleveland Glory Waist Drum Team
2026 Lunar New Year Fun with Maps - Posing with the Map of Asia
ClevelandPeople.com was honored to be a Media Sponsor and have a table at the event. We brought our large maps of Asia and SE Asia it was very busy with people studying it and posing in front of it. As we like to do, we asked people to pose while pointing to the land of their heritage on the map. We were very happy at the diversity of people and made a lot of friends! The heritages included China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Laos, India, Indonesia and more.
Pointing to the map of Singapore
See more pictures of people posing with the maps of Asia
Cleveland Phoenix ClubLadies from the Cleveland Phoenix Club performed a traditional Jasmine Flower Chinese Silk Fan Dance and other fan dances and songs. Cleveland Phoenix Club
See video and more photos of the Cleveland Phoenix Club
Sho-Jo-Ji Japanese DancersLadies from the Sho-Jo-Ji Japanese Dancers performed traditional Japanese dances and even taught the audience some steps.
 Sho-Jo-Ji Japanese Dancers
See more of the Sho-Jo-Ji Japanese Dancers at Asia Plaza
Kwan Family Lion DanceThe Kwan Family Lion Dance team performed throughout Asia Plaza bringing good fortune to many restaurants and storefronts. They also performed in the middle of the Plaza too. The Kwan family has been performing the traditional Chinese Lion Dance for over 40 years.
See photos and more of the Kwan Family Lion Dance at Asia Plaza
Whether you say Gong hei faat choy (Cantonese) or xin nian kuai le (Mandarin) or something else, we wish you a Happy Lunar New Year.***
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