Seattle’s CID Lunar New Year celebration 2025 one of its biggest yet

Happy Year of the Snake! Seattle’s Chinatown International District wraps up the Lunar New Year season with a celebration on Feb. 22.

This festival in the historic CID neighborhood is one of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations in the Seattle area. It’s essentially a big party in the streets, centered on Hing Hay Park, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event features cultural performances all day (make sure you catch the opening lion dance at 11 a.m.!), a $6 food walk and street vendors selling food, art and crafts.

The CID celebration is an annual tradition in its 31st year. What’s different this year are the economic and public safety challenges facing the neighborhood, said Jeff Liang, interim executive director of the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area, the organization hosting the event. 

“I want to change the perception that the CID and Little Saigon are dangerous places. We need love, care, attention and compassion. Come to the CID. Come to Little Saigon,” Liang said. “This is a vibrant neighborhood that has a lot of activity and history. We’re happy to share that with anybody who wants to visit.”

The CID’s Lunar New Year celebration is free and family-friendly. Everyone is welcome, from kids to seniors. Wear something red for good luck, come with an empty belly and enjoy a cultural experience that is joyful and delicious. To get here, public transportation is going to be your best bet, Liang said. Finding street parking is always tricky, and some streets will be closed for the event.

This is the first year Lunar New Year is a legislatively recognized holiday in Washington state. And this year’s CID event will be one of the biggest yet, with about 100 street vendors selling handmade soaps, jewelry, art, stickers and more.

Between the food walk, street vendors and food trucks, you can sample everything from dim sum to tteokbokki to bubble tea. There are 48 neighborhood small businesses and pop-ups offering $6 bites and special discounts for the event. Pick up a map at the information booth in Hing Hay Park. You can get a sneak peek of the mouthwatering options on the map at st.news/food-walk.

“Even if you have full stomachs, come,” Liang said. “This is your opportunity to try something that you’ve never eaten before. You don’t want to spend $10 on something, now you get to spend $6. Get a snack. Get a dessert. Just try as much as you can.”

Better yet: Take notes on the places you want to check out after Lunar New Year. “Write down in your phone, ‘I want to try this place later on,’ when it’s not as crowded,” Liang said. “I want people to come back.”

The Year of the Snake kicked off on Jan. 29, and the Lunar New Year celebration traditionally runs 15 days. The CID’s celebration takes place nearly a month later, on Feb. 22. Why is it so late?

One, the weather. The event is held outside, rain or shine. Fingers crossed for better weather in late February than late January.

Two, to give people time to be with their families. Liang flies down to San Francisco for a New Year’s family meal. “I grew up in San Francisco, and the (Chinatown) parade was always two weeks later. It was because people wanted to be with their families during the New Year,” he added.

And three: “Because I can continue to say ‘Happy New Year’ for a month,” Liang said.

Liang’s goal for the CID Lunar New Year celebration is to get people to come and see there’s more to the neighborhood than bad press. Lately, the CID has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: public art vandalized. Persistent break-ins. Random stabbings. 

This is a neighborhood with an image problem, for sure. It’s also where Liang lives and works (his commute is a three-block stroll). Liang acknowledges the very real public safety issues, especially in Little Saigon, the area of the CID east of Interstate 5.

“What I want to focus on is the perception. I want people to see us, not to avoid us,” Liang said. “The CID and Little Saigon, we’re cultural icons of Seattle. This is an opportunity to address that narrative.”