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Consistently and inevitably, the Lunar New Year is one of the funnest times to party in New York, but you have to know where to look. Few other organizations are throwing parties that are as fun and over-the-top as the Chop Suey Club, the store and cultural curator based in the Lower East Side. Led by creative mind Ruoyi Jiang, Chop Suey is known for throwing events that blend Chinese tradition with modern Asian American sensibilities.
In Chinese culture, the Year of the Dragon is the most auspicious of them all. That’s why Chop Suey is planning their biggest Lunar New Year party ever on Sunday, February, 11 at Olly Olly Market in Chelsea (West 26th Street) from 8pm till 1am. The Dragonpalooza, as it’s called, is going to include traditional markers of Lunar New Year, like a dragon dance, but also less traditional performances, including a raunchy giant calligraphy showcase by multidisciplinary (and more often than not, scantily-clad) queer artist Vincent Chong.
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The $78 price of admission includes an open bar and a red envelope, Jiang tells Time Out New York. The envelope will contain a pre-loaded card containing $15 redeemable at any of the vendors in the market, which include DdoBar, a bakery by Michelin-starred Chef Jiho Kim. The red envelope also contains a blessing token dedicated to one of three Gods Fu, Lu, and Shou. In Chinese culture, they are the Gods of prosperity, status and longevity, and the event will have three actors dressed like them who you can give your token to in exchange for a blessing. The last item in the red envelope is a raffle ticket, and Ruoyi says that at least 10% of all attendees should expect to win something.
Aside from the envelope, there will be plenty of drinks, carnival games, claw machines, arcade games and other forms of entertainment.
"Every year, I tell myself to try and not do something so crazy, but every year more and more people come," Jiang says. This time, she's expecting more than 1,000 people to come celebrate. "But it’s the Year of the Dragon, which symbolizes big energy, and the beginning of a new fortune. So we wanted to do something really big."
It’s the Year of the Dragon, which symbolizes big energy, and the beginning of a new fortune. So we wanted to do something really big.
Even though Jiang wants everyone to come and have fun, she also hopes that Dragonpalooza remains a place where different people can come together and keep each other company.
"I don’t get to go home every year [to China] for Lunar New Year, and I always wanted to do something for other people who don’t get to celebrate with their family, either," she says. "There’s so many people in our community who just want to celebrate together."
You can buy tickets to Dragonpalooza here or visit the Chop Suey Club at 81 Hester Street in the Lower East Side.