Chinese New Year Celebration

5 reasons every Dallasite should celebrate Chinese New Year at the Crow

The Crow Collection of Asian Art’s annual Chinese New Year Festival has been around for as many years as the collection itself has — which is 16, in case you haven’t been keeping track. An estimated 15,000 people are expected to attend the daylong festival on Saturday, February 21, celebrating the Year of the Ram.

Here are five reasons why they’ll be there:

1. How often can you pet sheep and lambs in downtown Dallas?
In addition to the petting zoo (11 am-5 pm), kids can also get their face painted on Flora Street. (Olive and Pearl streets will be closed to traffic.)

2. You can fill an envelope full of coins and feed it to a lion for good luck all year.
Inside the museum, from 11 am-7 pm, you can decorate a traditional Chinese New Year envelope with gold stamps and feed it to the colorful lion dancers to ward off evil spirits, create your own Chinese lantern, make a headband to celebrate the creative talents of people born in a Year of the Ram, and build a firework display to celebrate the year at home.

3. Any excuse for a food truck.
Bombay Chopstix, Mad Grill, Spin Sushi, My Cupcake Garden, Bobaddiction are just a few of the trucks that will be onsite.

4. You can put all those hours staring at the Chinese New Year paper placements at Asian restaurants to good use in the Year of the Ram trivia game.

5. An Asian comedic magician will be there. Enough said.
Well, almost enough. On the main stage, entertainment includes live music from Chinese folk singers, the Huayun Chinese Orchestra, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra, and SMU Meadows World Music Ensemble. Guests can also enjoy traditional lion and dragon dances, the UTD Chinese Dancing Crew, and the Jasmines Chinese Dance Troupe.

In addition to the above, a professional gallery educator will give a tour of the Crow’s newest exhibition, Benevolence and Wisdom: New Gifts from the Collection of Trammell and Margaret Crow (2-4 pm). And Friends of the Crow Collection have access to light refreshments, a calligraphy demonstration by TAO Arts, and traditional Chinese and dessert buffets in a special members lounge.

The Chinese New Year Celebration takes place on February 21, 11 am -7:30 pm, at the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, 2010 Flora St. 214-979-6430.

The best part? Admission is free.

Celebrate Chinese New Year at the Crow Collection on February 21.

Chinese New Year at the Crow Collection in Dallas

Photo courtesy of Crow Collection

Celebrate Chinese New Year at the Crow Collection on February 21.

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Hottest headlines of 2024

Alamo Drafthouse saga leads Dallas' top entertainment stories of 2024

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

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Editor's note: The biggest movie drama of 2024 in Dallas starred the theaters themselves. Local Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas closed abruptly, then reopened. Plano lost a beloved art house theater, too. Also among this year's hottest entertainment headlines: The opening of an art-focused park in Frisco and the groundbreaking of a cool new aquatic park in Garland. Here's a look back at our most-read entertainment stories of the year.

1. All 5 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations in Dallas-Fort Worth close. June 6 was a sad sad day for Dallas moviegoers: All five Dallas-area locations of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain closed. Two is One, One is None, LLC closed the six franchised Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas that it (and its affiliates) operated, and had filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Local movie lovers lamented the end of the Alamo Drafthouse era. But that wasn't the end...

2. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to re-open all 5 locations in Dallas-Fort Worth. On June 27, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain was back in business in Dallas-Fort Worth: The company announced it would reopen all five locations in Dallas-Fort Worth as well as a location in the Twin Cities in summer 2024. They would all be back open by the end of August.

3. Dallas woman wins 2024 Miss Hooters International beauty pageant. A Dallas woman won the Hooters crown: Cassidy Welch, a server at a Dallas-area Hooters, was named Miss Hooters International 2024 at the 27th Annual Miss Hooters International Pageant which took place on August 22 at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth.

Meet the 2024 Miss Hooters International winner Cassidy Welch. Hooters

4. Construction to begin on new theme-park-style aquatic park in Garland. A splendid new water park was finally underway in Garland in mid-July: The Surf & Swim Aquatics Facility, coming to 440 W. Oates Rd. in south Garland, was set to begin construction in summer 2024, with an opening anticipated for summer 2026.

5. Mark Cuban reveals mystery behind why he sold the Dallas Mavericks. After two decades as a passionate and hands-on owner, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban took many by surprise in December 2023 when he sold his majority share in the team without explanation. But in three media appearances, he shared the reasons behind his decision, which involved family as well as the new reality of owning a team in the NBA.

6. Where to see the most marvelous Christmas lights around Dallas in 2024. The big, beautiful holiday light displays that Dallas is known for switched on earlier than ever this year, promising an extra long season of sparkle and shine. This is our guide to the most spectacular Christmas lights of 2024 all around Dallas. We also made a separate list for the best homes and neighborhoods to see dazzling lights.

Vitruvian Lights in Addison The famous Vitruvian Lights at Vitruvian Park switched on in November. Photo by Stevan Koye

7. Plano loses arthouse movie theater Angelika after 20 years. An acclaimed independent movie theater in Plano closed: Angelika Film Center & Cafe - Plano, which had been open at The Shops at Legacy shopping center since 2004, closed its doors on June 3. The theater was one of the nicest in DFW, arriving at the Plano shopping center three years after it opened, and three years after Angelika made its DFW debut when it opened at Mockingbird Station in Dallas.

8. Stars of Dallas TV show return to Southfork Ranch for grand reunion. Fans of the iconic TV soap opera Dallas would get a chance to be up-close-and-personal with some of the show's stars during the Southfork Experience, a three-day event to be held at the iconic Southfork Ranch in Parker. Taking place October 25-27, it would consist of a variety of events, including a VIP Cocktail Reception at Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel, a meet-and-greet at Southfork Ranch, a chance to break bread with the actors, and more.

Josh Henderson, Linda Gray Dallas stars Josh Henderson and Linda Gray would be among the celebrities on hand at the Southfork Experience. Photo by Marty Perlman

9. Much anticipated Kaleidoscope Park to debut with fanfare in Frisco. A splashy new park with public art and gardens was finally opening in Frisco in October: Called Kaleidoscope Park, it was a new green space opening inside Hall Park, the mixed-use development off Gaylord Parkway and Dallas Parkway, where it was being billed as the second-biggest park opening in DFW since Klyde Warren Park opened in downtown Dallas in 2012.

10. Official list of 4th of July events and fireworks around Dallas in 2024. When it came to Independence Day events in the Dallas area, our cup ranneth over in a big way. Whether it was Dallas proper or the surrounding suburbs, almost every city in the area held some kind of event in the days leading up to July 4 or on the day itself. This was as close to a comprehensive list as there was on 4th of July-themed events happening in the Dallas area in 2024.

4th of july alamo drafthouse cinemas celebrities christmas lights christmas lights dallas closings dallas tv reunion hot-headlines kaleidoscope park frisco mark cuban mavericks miss hooters international movies parks plano angelika theater theater