The Rail Park Hosts 5th Annual Lunar New Year Celebration

The Rail Park Hosts 5th Annual Lunar New Year Celebration

Friends of the Rail Park to bring Noble Street alive with family friendly activities to celebrate the Year of the Wood Dragon

PHILADELPHIA, PA — February 6, 2024 – Friends of the Rail Park, a non-profit organization with a mission to transform Philadelphia’s historic rail lines into the Rail Park, is thrilled to invite the Philadelphia community to ring in the Year of the Wood Dragon for its fifth annual Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday, February 10, 2024 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. 

Lunar New Year is a holiday that falls on the first new moon of the lunar calendar, and symbolizes hope and prosperity. Recognized as a time to reunite with family and friends marked by vibrant cultural traditions, the event includes a ballet performance and K-Pop workshop with Ballet SunMi, a lion dance performance by the Philadelphia Suns, as well as family-friendly crafts and light refreshments.

This event is in partnership with Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia Suns, Asian Americans United, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, Students for the Preservation of Chinatown and Callowhill Neighborhood Association.

Free and open to the public, event registration is encouraged with the option to make a donation to support Friends of the Rail Park. To learn more and register, visit www.therailpark.org/event/lunar-new-year-2024/.

Friends of the Rail Park 

Friends of the Rail Park (FRP) is the non-profit organization that drives the vision behind the transformation of historic rail lines that traverse Philadelphia into the Rail Park. FRP’s mission is to build bold, transformative, and inclusive public space that connects Philadelphia’s residents and visitors to the city and each other. 

The Rail Park is a vision for a three-mile linear park and multi-use pathway connecting 10 distinct Philadelphia neighborhoods and 50+ city blocks along the site of former historic Reading and Pennsylvania Railroad lines. The above and below grade site offers an opportunity to create a world class public space driven by collaborating with communities from every corner of the city, building from existing cultural assets, promoting health and wellness, and advancing equitable access to the investment in this large-scale public works project, positioning the park as an integral part of comprehensive community development in Philadelphia.

Open to the public since June 2018, Phase One of the Rail Park is a $13 million project transforming a quarter-mile section of the former Reading Railroad—which reaches from Broad and Noble streets up onto the elevated 1100 block of Callowhill Street in Philadelphia. Serving as a stunning “proof of concept,” Phase One is a welcoming community greenspace, with pathways, low-maintenance perennial plantings, trees, seating, bench-style swings, local art, and elevated city views. The design preserves and restores much of the historic steel viaduct structure, while introducing materials of a similar industrial scale and character.