Dumplings and Beyond, Denver Celebrates Lunar New Year

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With the Lunar New Year coming up on Feb. 10, Asian restaurants like Nana’s Dim Sum Dumplings have been preparing for the celebration. The 2024 Lunar New Year celebrates the fifth animal in the 12-year cycle: the dragon. Those born in this zodiac year are said to be charismatic, powerful, smart, confident and lucky. 

“We are doing a dragon dance,” said Nana’s general manager David DiCola. “We’re also handing out Chinese [red] envelopes with a couple of bucks here and there.” 

Red envelopes filled with money are often passed out during the new year, as the color symbolizes good wishes and prosperity. The tradition dates back millennia to the Han Dynasty. Today, the envelopes are often decorated with gold designs representing wealth, longevity and happiness. But the envelopes aren’t the only red items around. As one enters Nana’s, they’re greeted by red lanterns strung across the ceiling giving off dim lighting, and a large, lit-up dragon. Customers can watch the chefs hard at work preparing their orders through a window to the kitchen.

“It’s [about the] all-around experience that you get, not just the food,” DiCola said. “Part of my job is to make sure the staff provides that experience and that standard we’ve created.”

Gov. Jared Polis made the Lunar New Year an official state-recognized holiday in June 2023. During the ceremony at the state capitol, Nga Vương-Sandoval, the head of the Lunar New Year Allies Advisory Group, acknowledged the historical moment. 

“It speaks about all the years and all of the moments and all the struggles that took us here to ensure that we recognize the importance of it,” Vương-Sandoval said. “Not just for us, but for those before us and those after us.”

Although the Lunar New Year is often referred to as Chinese New Year, the 15-day holiday is celebrated in several Asian countries and by diaspora communities around the world. Denver has a rich history of Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Filipino culture. Businesses throughout the city, especially its Little Saigon neighborhood, will be celebrating the Lunar New Year. The Far East Center on Federal Boulevard—which was just nominated to the State Register of Historic Places in January—is hosting a two-day event from Feb. 10 to 11. The event will be packed with performances like dragon ice carving, lion dances and tai chi, with vendors selling a variety of food. The center is also hosting a series of cultural workshops through Feb. 27.

During last year’s celebration, Mimi Luong of Troung An Gifts told Bucket List Community Cafe how important the event is. 

“I feel that Lunar New Year celebrated at the Far East Center has been a cultural event passed down from my parents, and that we are able to share our culture with the community and let them know our traditions on how we celebrate with line dances, cultural performances, the different types of foods that restaurants are serving—just to share with everyone our culture,” Luong said.

Nana’s Dim Sum and Dumplings opened up a Denver location on Oct. 20, 2023, not long after the state recognized the holiday and expects to be busy. 

“We always have a packed house,” DiCola said.