© 2025 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kansas City's Asian communities are welcoming in the Lunar New Year

Two children visit the Community Altar at the Hella Good Deeds Lunar New Year Night Market in Kansas City on January 25, 2025.
Bety Le Shackelford
/
Hella Good Deeds
Two children visit the Community Altar at the Hella Good Deeds Lunar New Year Night Market on Jan. 25, 2025.

The Year of the Snake begins on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Up To Date heard how Asian communities around Kansas City celebrate, and how to take part.

The Lunar New Year, celebrated by Asian communities around the world, falls on Wednesday, Jan. 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

Xiao daCunha, a Chinese-born food writer who lives in Kansas City, says that China has many diverse traditions for the Lunar New Year.

"China being as big as it is, every single one of our regions actually has its own traditions, but there are general formulas that apply," she says. "For example, you always have either four, six, eight, or 10 dishes because those are the lucky numbers."

She says food is important for the New Year no matter where you are. For example, fish and chicken are eaten because their names sound similar to the words for abundance and luck.

"And for desserts, oh my god, there's so many different types of dessert," daCunha says.

Bety Le Shackelford directs the nonprofit Hella Good Deeds, which promotes Asian culture in Kansas City. She says Vietnamese New Year celebrations place a special emphasis on honoring ancestors.

"Celebrating your ancestors is a huge deal," Shackelford says. "We have an altar set out, and we have their photos up, and we have fresh food, fruits, drinks, anything that you want to send up to your ancestors."

Hella Good Deeds, which is the new sister organization of Vietnamese coffee shop Café Cà Phê, just celebrated the Lunar New Year in Kansas City with a Night Market. The nonprofit has even bigger plans for future events.

"We hope to be able to make it bigger, so that people all around the Midwest can know that they can come to Kansas City to celebrate," Shackelford says.

Shackelford and daCunha are excited for what the Year of the Snake may bring.

"It's about being flexible, being versatile, be adaptive to your environment. Year of the Snake usually underlies a lot of good, new opportunities," daCunha says.

Stay Connected
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As the 2024-2025 Up to Date intern, I am passionate about finding diverse stories that allow public radio to serve as a platform for people in our area to share what matters to them. I grew up in the Kansas City metro, graduated from the University of Arkansas, and have previously worked as a producer for KUAF, Northwest Arkansas' NPR affiliate station. Email me at jmarvine@kcur.org.
KCUR prides ourselves on bringing local journalism to the public without a paywall — ever.

Our reporting will always be free for you to read. But it's not free to produce.

As a nonprofit, we rely on your donations to keep operating and trying new things. If you value our work, consider becoming a member.