As Richmond Hill ushers in the Lunar New Year — welcoming the Year of the Horse — the city’s Chinese and broader Asian communities are marking the occasion with vibrant public celebrations and deeply rooted family traditions.
Festivities are already underway at Hillcrest Mall, where a full-day Lunar New Year celebration is drawing families from across York Region. The mall’s central court has been transformed with red lanterns, floral displays, and cultural installations. The highlight for many is the traditional lion dance, beginning with the ceremonial eye-dotting ritual alongside community leaders — a symbolic act believed to awaken the lion and invite prosperity for the year ahead.
Throughout the day, visitors are taking part in lantern-making workshops, calligraphy demonstrations, riddles, drum performances, and children’s activities — blending education with celebration and offering younger generations a hands-on connection to heritage.
Preparations extend well beyond public venues.
In homes and restaurants along Yonge Street, Highway 7, and surrounding plazas, families are gathering for reunion dinners — the most important meal of the year. Tables feature symbolic foods such as dumplings for wealth, whole fish for abundance, and longevity noodles for health and long life. Red envelopes filled with lucky money are being prepared for children, while storefronts glow with gold-ink blessings and spring couplets.
The season’s spirit of generosity has also been visible through community initiatives, including a local Lunar New Year gift drive that distributed toys and school supplies to families — reinforcing the holiday’s themes of renewal, compassion, and shared fortune.
Celebrations will continue later this month at the Langstaff Community Centre, where a Lunar New Year Business Expo and cultural showcase is scheduled to bring together entrepreneurs, performers, and residents. The event will feature vendor booths, stage performances, guest speakers, and another lively lion dance — highlighting the economic and cultural contributions of Asian communities within Richmond Hill.
Home to one of the GTA’s fastest-growing Chinese, Korean, and Southeast Asian populations, Richmond Hill has seen Lunar New Year evolve from intimate banquet-hall gatherings into city-wide festivities spanning malls, community centres, and public events.
For many, the holiday remains rooted in family — but its public expression continues to grow.
“It’s about reunion and tradition,” one local organizer shared, “but also about inviting the whole community to celebrate with us.”
As drums echo through shopping centres and lanterns light the winter landscape, Richmond Hill’s Asian communities step into the new year with pride, prosperity, and an open invitation for neighbours to join the celebration.