Lunarfest 2025, Maple Tapping & Winter Festivities This Weekend In CT

CONNECTICUT — The Lunar New Year coincides with the start of maple tapping season in Connecticut, and sweet events can be found across the state this weekend.

The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in China — where it is known as the Spring Festival — and is also widely celebrated in Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea and many other areas with a large Asian population. In the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is The Year of the Snake. In New Haven, residents are celebrating with Lunarfest 2025, and it will be the largest celebration of Lunar New Year in Connecticut.

Festivities begin with the Lion Dance Parade down Whitney Avenue between Grove and Trumbull Streets from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. There will also be post-parade festivities all over the city, including the Whitney-Audubon Retail & Arts District, Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven Free Public Library, the Giggling Pig Art & Party Studio, and many more. Find the full roster of events online here.

Maple Tapping Season is actually a pretty big deal in New England, and it begins in Connecticut this weekend. Cold nights and warm, sunny days are the key to providing strong sap yields, and it looks as though we've arrived in that space. Make a point of visiting your local sugar house in the next couple of months, or head over to the Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury on Saturday, Feb. 1, for Maple Tapping Day and get it all out of your system. There will be two tapping treks, at 9:30 and 11 a.m. Snow date is Sunday, Feb. 2, 12:30 and 2 p.m. The event is free, but registration is requested.

The Town of Wilton will be holding its annual Winter Carnival, themed "Fire & Ice," Sunday Feb. 2, from noon to 3 p.m. There'll be plenty to do and see, from ice sculptures to fire dancers, as well as big bonfires if you're just looking to chill. Look for scavenger hunts, activities for the kids, and food trucks galore, throughout the Wilton Town Green.

If you'd prefer to just focus on food — and fire — head to Ashford on Saturday for the Friends of Ecole Agape's Chili Cook-Off. It's a great food event, for a great cause — all proceeds will go to support the only free girls' school in Haiti. The 8th Annual Cook-Off will be held at St. Philip the Apostle Church from noon to 3 p.m.

Get an early jump on the weekend, Friday evening in downtown Storrs when the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at UConn will cut the ribbon for its newest exhibition, "American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine." Refreshments will be served at 6 p.m. and an in-person exhibition tour at 6:30 p.m. by Termine, with Cheryl Henson, the president of The Jim Henson Foundation, will follow. The proceedings will also be streamed on Ballard Institute’s Facebook Live channel. The exhibit will be on display through May 11 at the Ballard Institute. No reservation required.