February 12, 2021 marks the start of the 2021 Lunar New Year. 

Lunar New Year (Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, etc.) is a holiday typically celebrated in Asian countries which begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar. On New Year’s day, family members distribute and receive red envelopes containing small amounts of money. Additionally, dragon dances, colorful lanterns, and fireworks are prevalent throughout the holidays. Certain dishes are also commonly eaten, such as steamed whole fish, dumplings, and glutinous rice cake to bring good luck to the coming year.

Every year, Dr. Meng, of the Chinese Department, leads the Lunar New Year festivities at Kent. When asked what her favorite thing about Lunar New Year is, Dr. Meng said she enjoys “the atmosphere to celebrate the New Year with everyone together.” Usually, Dr. Meng would host a gathering for students who celebrate the holiday to make dumplings and enjoy an annual Lunar New Year dinner filled with traditional foods, laughter, karaoke, and more.  

However, because of Covid restrictions, the gathering did not happen this year. Tiffany Chan ‘22 feels “sad that (she) wouldn’t be able to celebrate like (she) used to.” However, she expresses her excitement as well, saying that even though she’s “unable to celebrate with (her) family and do traditional festivities, (she’ll) be able to celebrate with (her) close friends.” Grace Xie ’22 also shares the same sentiment; however, she had hoped that there would be more varieties of festive food in the dining hall to celebrate this huge holiday. 

While celebrations looked pretty different this year, Kent hopes the Lunar New Year celebrations were enjoyable and that everyone has a prosperous, happy, and healthy 2021.