Lunar New Year Program Order and Run of Show
Lunar New Year is celebrated by many communities, including Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, Korean Seollal and Vietnamese Tết, along with other communities across Asia and around the world. Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, 2027 in many places and begins the Year of the Goat, also called the Sheep or Ram. Confirm the date with each community you're celebrating, because it can differ by a day by time zone. This run of show fits a 75-minute stage program at a community festival, with the vendor market and food open around it. Times are offsets from the start.
| Time | Segment | Who | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| −0:15 | Pre-show music, guests gather | DJ, musicians or playlist | Reserve seating near the stage for elders and guests with mobility needs |
| 0:00 | Welcome and greetings | Emcee or co-emcees | 3 minutes: host, greetings in the community's languages, year of the Goat, timing |
| 0:03 | Lion or dragon dance | Lion or dragon dance team | 8 to 10 minutes with drums, cymbals and gongs; some teams open with an eye-dotting ceremony |
| 0:13 | Remarks | Host leader, community leader or elected official | 2 to 3 minutes each, no more than two speakers |
| 0:19 | Performance block 1 | Dance, music or martial arts groups | Three acts, about 5 minutes each |
| 0:35 | Children's performance | Students or youth groups | 5 to 8 minutes, a song, dance or fashion walk in traditional clothing |
| 0:43 | Sponsor thanks and vendor market shout-out | Emcee | 2 minutes: sponsors, food vendors, market hours and map |
| 0:45 | Performance block 2 | Dance, music or drumming groups | Two or three acts, about 5 minutes each |
| 1:00 | Red envelope lucky draw | Emcee and a sponsor or leader | 8 to 10 minutes; follow your local raffle rules |
| 1:10 | Closing wishes and thanks | Emcee | 3 minutes, with what's next on the site |
| 1:13 | Closing performance or lion dance send-off | Lion dance team or all performers | Guests move to the market, food or lantern walk |
Lunar New Year Emcee Script to Copy
Read this as written or adapt it. Bracketed text is yours to fill. Ask a member of each community to check the greetings and pronunciation, or to say them with you on stage.
For transitions, a late act and general hosting tips, see our emcee script guide, write the opening remarks for your host leader with the event welcome speech examples, and find more ways to thank everyone in our closing remarks speech guide.
Make the Program Inclusive of Every Community
A program feels welcoming when each community sees its own traditions named correctly. Invite community organizations, cultural associations and local schools to help plan the line-up, and ask them to review the script, greetings and printed program before the day.
| Community | Name of the celebration | Program ideas | Ask a community member about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (Chūn Jié) | Lion and dragon dances, fan and ribbon dances, kung fu, calligraphy, red envelopes | Mandarin and Cantonese greetings, and which dances suit your audience |
| Korean | Seollal | Samulnori drumming, fan dance, a hanbok fashion walk, yutnori, sebae (the new year bow) shown by children | The greeting, the bow and the right foods to feature |
| Vietnamese | Tết (Tết Nguyên Đán) | Lion dance (múa lân), áo dài fashion walk, folk music, lucky money (lì xì) | The greeting and traditional foods such as bánh chưng or bánh tét |
| Other communities | Many names and traditions | Music, dance and food from each community that celebrates locally | How they'd like to be named and included |
- Use "Lunar New Year" in the event name, and name each tradition where it appears
- Say the zodiac animal as communities do locally: goat, sheep or ram
- Check greetings and pronunciation with native speakers, and print them in the program
- Feature performers, vendors and food from each community, not only one
- Avoid costumes or decorations that treat traditions as a theme party
- Plan for families: children's performances, a craft table and a lantern walk
For more event formats, from lantern walks to night markets, see Lunar New Year event ideas, and for a full festival, how to plan a cultural festival.
Red Envelope Lucky Draw and Planning Steps
A red envelope lucky draw is a highlight of many programs. Put prizes, gift cards or coupons in red envelopes and draw ticket numbers on stage. Raffles and prize draws are regulated in many states, especially when people pay for tickets, so check your state's rules and write your own with our raffle rules template.
- 1
Choose how people enter
Decide whether entries are free with admission, a stamp card from visiting vendors, or paid tickets, and check the rules for that format in your state.
- 2
Collect and label prizes
Collect donated prizes from sponsors and vendors two weeks out, write each in an envelope with a number, and keep a list of every prize and its donor.
- 3
Draw on stage
Use a clear drum or bowl for tickets, have a sponsor or elder draw, read numbers twice and set a claim time and place.
- 4
Mind lucky and unlucky numbers
Many families avoid the number four, which sounds like the word for death in Chinese and some other languages, and favor eight. Skip prize amounts or ticket numbers built around four if your community would notice.
- 1
Confirm performers early
Book the lion or dragon dance team, performers and emcee eight to ten weeks out. Weekends near the new year fill early.
- 2
Collect act details
Ask each act for its exact length, music file, microphone needs, stage space and changing area. Build the run of show from those times.
- 3
Plan the site around the program
Lay out the stage, performer area, lion dance route, lucky draw table, food vendors and market so the crowd can move between them. If the dance team visits booths, plan its route.
- 4
Rehearse the transitions
Run the order once with the emcee, sound tech and stage manager, including microphone handoffs, music cues and the lucky draw.
For a lantern walk or evening finale, see how to plan a lantern festival. To sell vendor market spaces and publish one map of the stage, food and booths, see festival management software.