Chinese New Year celebrations go way beyond the Chinatown Lunar New Year parade (Jan. 29, 11:30 a.m. at Canal and Mott streets). From firecracker ceremonies to three-course dinners, there are plenty of ways to kick off the Year of the Dragon.
*New Year’s Day Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival, Roosevelt Park, between Grand and Hester streets; explorechinatown.org. Monday at 11 a.m.
Ring in the new year with a bang at this festival celebrating the firecracker, a Chinese invention. The Chinese believe the firecracker’s loud explosions bring good luck and keep away bad omens.
*New York Chinese Cultural Center Lunar New Year Celebration, World Financial Center, 200 Vesey St.; 212-417-7050, artsworldfinancialcenter.com., Jan. 28 at 1 p.m.
Kids will learn the techniques of paper cutting, face painting and calligraphy. A performance follows that will include acrobatic martial arts, folk and dragon dancing.
*Grace Chang and Jin Jin the Dragon at Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn; 718-230-2100, brooklynpubliclibrary.org. Today at 1 p.m.
Beijing-born international ringmaster Grace Chang will show off magic tricks, dance and acrobatics.Chang’s special guest puppet is the star of her “Jin Jin the Dragon” book series.
*Chinese New Year: Lang Lang at the New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; 212-875-5656, nyphil.org. Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $35 to $125.
Chinese pianist Lang Lang, along with the Quintessenso Mongolian Children’s Choir and other soloists, traditional and contemporary Chinese. Pre-show, see a traditional dragon dance outdoors in front of Avery Fisher Hall at 4:30 p.m.
*Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, New Jersey Performing Arts Center,
1 Center St., Newark, NJ; 888-GO-NJPAC, njpac.org. Today at 2 and 7 p.m.; tomorrow at 2 p.m. Tickets $23 to $25.
The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York joins the dance company to perform the dragon dance and other works. Afterward, paper-cutting artist Hou-Tien Cheng will show off his paper creations, and artist Penny Sing will teach origami.
*Decoding the Chinese Almanac’s Predictions for 2012, Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St.; 212-619-4785, mocanyc.org. Today at 2:30 p.m. $18 for adults, $12 for students.
Husband-wife duo Ken Smith and Joanna C. Lee stop by MOCA to decode the Chinese Almanac’s predictions for the Year of the Dragon and reveal New Year’s traditions that will protect your household. Eventgoers will also receive a copy of the 2012 Pocket Chinese Almanac.
*Chinese New Year dinner at LTO, 171 East Broadway; 212-228-3100, ltonyc.com. Tuesday. For reservations, reservations@baohausnyc.com.
Nibble on a three-course family-style Taiwanese meal courtesy of Baohaus honcho Eddie Huang. The $65 per person fee includes bites such as spaghetti squash with sea cucumber and roast duck, spicy rice flour spare ribs with sweet potato, and sauteed clams over sticky rice.