East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS for the 2026 East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday, February 21, 2026, in Cox Auditorium on the University of Tennessee Knoxville Campus.

This large, family-friendly variety show is held annually in late January - early February during the Chinese New Year and brings together many local Chinese organizations to share singing, dancing, martial arts, and other performances to celebrate the coming of Spring! In past years, we have had professional musicians, dancers, and singers dazzle our audience, complemented by a wide variety of talented local performers.

Our next event will be the 2026 East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival, which will be held on Saturday evening, February 21, 2026, in Cox Auditorium on the University of Tennessee Knoxville Campus. Our Special Guest will be Chinese traditional instrumentalist Yao Lu from Atlanta (shown above). Yao is a performer, recording artist, teacher, and founder of the Magic Eastern Ensemble that features Asian fusion music with Chinese traditional instruments. Our event will also include a traditional Chinese Lion Dance, as well as Chinese dancing, singing, martial arts, and more. You can purchase tickets online at this link

Please visit us on Facebook to see some fantastic pictures of previous shows!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS for the 2026 East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday, February 21, 2026, in Cox Auditorium on the University of Tennessee Knoxville Campus.

Date, Time, and Location of our 2026 Festival

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026
Time: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Cox Auditorium, Alumni Memorial Building
University of Tennessee Knoxville
1408 Middle Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996

We hope you will join us for our latest community event to welcome the coming of Spring and the start of the Year of the Horse!

Parking

Please click here for a general link to parking in the area.

Tickets

All seats are reserved for this not-for-profit event, and ticket prices are $10, $11, and $12. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS for the 2026 East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday, February 21, 2026, in Cox Auditorium on the University of Tennessee Knoxville Campus.

You can help spread the word about the Festival by downloading our Flyer and sending it to friends and colleagues, and by printing some copies and distributing them to the local community.

Program

In our 2026 Festival, our Special Guest will be Chinese traditional instrumentalist Yao Lu from Atlanta. A performer, recording artist, and teacher, Yao is also the founder of the Magic Eastern Ensemble that features Asian fusion music with Chinese traditional instruments. Our upcoming Year of the Horse Festival will also feature a traditional Lion dance from Wah Lum Kung Fu, along with a variety of Chinese dance, singing, and martial arts performances. We hope you will come enjoy the show!

Many images from past performances can be found on our Facebook page -- please like and follow us there!

Please click here for highlights of our past shows.

For memories of our 2025 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2024 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2023 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2020 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2019 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2018 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2017 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2016 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2015 show, please click here.

For memories of our 2014 show, please click here.

For memories of the 2013 show, please click here.

For memories of the 2012 show, please click here.

For memories of the 2011 show, please click here.

Organizers

The 2026 East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival is produced by Michael Smith of the East Tennessee Wushu Team / East Tennessee Tai Chi Team. Dan Wang (UTK) from the University of Tennessee also helped organize this not-for-profit community event.

Volunteers

To volunteer to work behind the scenes at this event, please click here.

This Festival cannot run without many volunteers working before, during, and after the show. Our volunteer opportunities are ideal for high school students wishing to earn Community Service Hours for the National Honor Society, and for college students wishing to earn extra credit for certain courses. A wide variety of volunteer services are needed, including stage assistants, ticket scanners, performer assistants, prop handlers, A/V helpers, ushers, truck loading/unloading, and cleaning up.

Please click here to volunteer to help run this event.