Grr! Here comes the Year of the Tiger and our TOP TEN list includes a handful of family activities to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year, as well as a local groundhog day celebration, Cirque Mechanics, a show of extraordinary acrobatics, and plenty of skating—both in the rink and out on the ice. Scroll down for the full list of FUN!

Please be sure to check with the host location about their health and safety protocols, as well as their registration requirements, prior to heading out!

Looking for more ideas of what to do in the Main Line area? Check out our COMMUNITY CALENDAR at mainlineparent.com/events. To see MORE events happening in Philly and Bucks County visit phillyfamily.com/events and buckscountyparent.com/events.

Go straight to: Friday Saturday Sunday

Friday 

Chestnut Hill on Ice Street Festival

January 28, 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Chestnut Hill Business District, 8426 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia

Beat the winter blues and head to Chestnut Hill on Ice, January 28th and 29th, for socially distanced ice-themed attractions, including the return of world-renowned ice sculptor Peter Slavin and Philadelphia’s own Ice Sculpture Philly, cold weather activities and cozy comforts, live music, restaurant and retail specials, and warm adult and children-friendly beverages and snacks. The two-day event is free to attend, with pay-as-you-go activities for all ages, and will take place along Germantown Avenue between Rex Avenue and Willow Grove Avenue.

Friday Night Public Ice Skating at PSC&HS

January 28, 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society 220 Holland Avenue, Ardmore

Join PSCHS for weekly Friday evening public skating sessions in their beautiful ice rink. It’s a great indoor activity in the winter. Skate with friends and family or sit back and relax with a cup of hot chocolate from the snack bar. $10 admission and $5 ice skate rental.

Saturday 

Penn Wynne Library Lunar New Year Crafts

January 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Penn Wynne Library, 130 Overbrook Parkway, Wynnewood

Come celebrate the Year of the Tiger at Penn Wynne Library with crafts! Make a red lantern, a tiger, and learn about your Chinese zodiac. No registration required. Craft supplies and instructions will be available on the tables in the Children’s Room to use on your own.

Groundhog Day Celebration at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

January 29, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm 
John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge At Tinicum 8601 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia

Will Tinicum Tim come out of his burrow and see his shadow? Join us in a family-friendly celebration of winter wildlife that includes a live animal presentation, a story walk, ranger-led walks, live music, refreshments, and crafts!

Lunar New Year Family Arts Festival

January 29, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Main Line Arts Center 746 Panmure Road, Haverford

Celebrate the Year of The Tiger at Main Line Arts Center. The Lunar New Year Family Arts Festival is a free festival featuring performances by The Philadelphia Sons Lion Dance Troop, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, and Wolf Performing Arts Center, plus hands-on art-making for all ages, festive traditions, games, food trucks and more! The event will take place outside in our parking lot, weather permitting. Be sure to visit the exhibition, Lunar: A New Year, on view in our galleries from January 10 through February 27. Registration is required.

Lunar New Year at Dilworth Park

January 29, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Dilworth Park 1 South 15th Streeet, Philadelphia

Visitors to Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink in Dilworth Park are invited to celebrate Lunar New Year! Sponsored by Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communications, guests are invited to celebrate Lunar New Year with a prancing lion, traditional Chinese dancers and a delicious menu in the Rothman Orthopaedics Cabin. Ice skating sessions will be available throughout the evening.

Sunday

Sunday Public Ice Skating at The Skatium

January 30, 12:15 pm – 1:45 pm
The Skatium 1002 Darby Road, #3616, Havertown, PA

Established in 1974, The Skatium is owned and operated by Haverford Township. Here you’ll find public skate sessions, ice hockey, and learn-to-skate lessons, plus this ice rink has an in-house eatery and a pro shop. Rent skates, or bring your own. The Skatium offers multiple Public Skate and Open Hockey sessions each week; visit their website for the full schedule.

Sunday Afternoon Skate at Ringing Rocks Roller Rink

January 30, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm 
Ringing Rocks Roller Rink 1500 Ringing Rocks Park, Pottstown

Ringing Rocks Roller Rink, a community roller rink in the Pottstown area since 1938, hosts public roller skating on Sunday afternoons for all ages, from 1 – 4 pm. All children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Masks are not required for those that are fully vaccinated. Admission is $10 and includes rental skates. See link to purchase tickets in advance.

Kids Yoga Pop Up at TenTen Truth

January 30, 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
TenTen Truth 6 Yale Avenue, Morton

Join Mackenzie at TenTen Truth in Morton, PA to stretch, play, and find your center in this 45-minute session! Ages 5-10 welcome. Please register your child via the event link.

Cirque Mechanics at Penn Live Arts

January 30, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Zellerbach Theatre 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Penn Live Arts presents Cirque Mechanics: Birdhouse Factory. Hailed as “the greatest contribution to the American circus since Cirque du Soleil” (Spectacle Magazine), Cirque Mechanics returns with the Philadelphia premiere of Birdhouse Factory, where a group of 1930’s workers are brought together by the most unlikely of events. Enjoy breathtaking acrobatics, zany antics and an enchanting story of laughter, joy and, of course, birdhouses. Inspired by American ingenuity and all things mechanical, Birdhouse Factory is “exceptional, evocative, eye-catching, ear-catching and, to keep the list short, engrossingly entertaining.” (The New York Times)

DISCLAIMER: HEY PARENTS, AS WE WELL KNOW, THINGS CHANGE DAY TO DAY… EVEN HOUR TO HOUR SINCE WE HAVE ENDURED A GLOBAL PANDEMIC TOGETHER. PLEASE CHECK THE SPECIFIC EVENT WEBSITE FOR TIME CHANGES, RAIN DATES, COVID POLICIES, AND EVENT CANCELLATIONS BEFORE YOU PACK UP THE WHOLE CREW OR GATHER AROUND THE LAPTOP TO LOG ON.

Lead photo courtesy of Main Line Arts Center Lunar New Year Family Arts Festival.