Celebrate the Year of the Monkey at the Met!

Watch the Chinese Center on Long Island's Lion Troupe as they twist and turn their way through the Museum. Photograph by Don Pollard

«Join us for one of the biggest Lunar New Year celebrations in town! Usher in the Year of the Monkey by exploring traditions from across Asia through music, dance, art making, and more at this all-day festival on Saturday, February 6.»

Discover flexibility, concentration, and coordination through martial arts forms with the New York Chinese Cultural Center. Photograph by Don Pollard

In the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education, you can perfect your martial arts moves, create your own Chinese opera mask, or catch a hand-pulled noodle demo!

Hear the Music From China Youth Orchestra perform regional music with traditional Chinese instruments. Photograph by Don Pollard

In the galleries, discover the art of the Chinese tea ceremony in the peaceful Astor Chinese Garden Court, try your hand at calligraphy, or check out fellow kids performing in the Music From China Youth Orchestra. Love monkeys? Swing by one of our drawing stations to sketch and explore monkeys across cultures.

Simian figure with cupped hands (Amuin, possibly for mbra), 19th-mid-20th century. Côte d'Ivoire, central Côte d'Ivoire. Baule peoples. Wood, pigment, fiber, hair, patina, sacrificial materials; H. 20 3/4 x W. 5 1/4 x D. 6 7/16 in. (52.7 x 13.3 x 16.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1962 (1978.412.468)

Budding artists can also pop into gallery 208 to meet artist Wu Jian'an, who has traveled to New York City from China just for this festival! Collaborate with family and friends to contribute to Wu's art installation over the course of the day, and be on the lookout for his upcoming interview with a #MetKids reporter.

Want to get a head start on the festivities? See all of the fun that #MetKids had last year celebrating the Year of the Ram!

Video highlights of the Met's 2015 New Beginnings: Lunar New Year Festival

Check out the full schedule of events below, and we hope to see you on Saturday!

Related Event
Lunar New Year: Year of the Monkey
Saturday, February 6, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Museum-wide
Free with Museum admission; admission is free for children under 12 with an adult