It’s the Year of the Fire Horse, and a celebration of traditional Chinese dancing, dress, and drumming helped ring in the Lunar New Year at The Block Northway in Ross.
This was part of the scene Feb. 14 for shoppers and diners alike who were treated to performances by the Organization of Chinese Americans, Pittsburgh Chapter, in front of the Sesame Inn restaurant on the upper level of the mall.
“Chinese New Year happens to be the most important holiday in Chinese culture,” said Kenneth Cheng, a business partner of Sesame Inn who helped organize the event. “It’s the most important and biggest celebration.”
Cheng requested OCA provide a performance as part of the restaurant’s Lunar New Year celebration, according to Chiapih Shaw, director of the OCA Performance Ensemble and OCA vice president of cultural affairs.
The evening’s performances began with a Chinese drummer and a traditional Lion Dance, performed by two dancers in each of the two life-sized, colorful lion costumes, mimicking the moves of a lion.
The OCA Performance Ensemble Beginner Level and Advanced Level dancing groups followed. The performance ensemble consists of youth and adult groups dedicated to promoting Chinese culture through dance, lion dance and dragon dance, Shaw said.
The groups were helping usher in the Lunar New Year, with 2026 being the Year of the Fire Horse, a combination which happens every 60 years, according to Yiting Cheng, co-president of the OCA, and no relation to Kenneth Cheng.
“It is OCA’s mission that we celebrate and we share our culture. We want our community to understand and to celebrate this important Lunar New Year together with us,” said Yiting Cheng, who originally is from Taiwan but came to Pittsburgh in 2005.
The new year is an exciting time for the Chinese, said Kenneth Cheng of Ross. Revelers enjoy eating, giving gifts and celebrating, similar to Christmas festivities, he said.
The new year began on Feb. 17 and is the start of a 15-day spring festival that concludes with the Lantern Festival. The horse represents a zodiac sign, and fire is one of five elements used in the annual rotation, with the others being earth, metal, water and wood.
Characteristics of the Fire Horse are free spirit, endurance, energetic, resilience and speed, according to Shaw, who also serves as coordinator and choreographer of the OCA performance program.
Yuefang Chang and her husband, Tong Lee, both originally from Taiwan but now residents of Murrysville, were translating English names into Chinese letters on tags for visitors at the Sesame Inn.
Nolan Huynh, 3, watched the performances with his family and “to celebrate the Chinese new year,” said his father, Johnson Huynh of Fox Chapel.
Jeff Wong of Shaler was waiting for a table at the Sesame Inn with his family. He had heard about the performances and was excited for his family to see the cultural show.
“We wanted our son to experience it,” said Wong, who was there with his wife and son, Alban, 4.
Shaw thanked mall manager Jamie Pavlot for supporting the event.
The Organization of Chinese Americans, Pittsburgh Chapter, is a nonprofit organization for Asian Pacific Americans in Southwestern Pennsylvania, serving an Asian American community of 60,000 for more than 50 years.
The organization works to eliminate prejudice, promote Chinese culture and advance the well-being of its members.
For details, visit ocapghpa.org.