Lunar New Year marks the start of a new year based on the moon’s cycles and is celebrated across China, Vietnam, Korea and other Asian cultures, usually between late January and mid-February.

The holiday focuses on family, renewal and good fortune, with traditions like reunion dinners, red decorations, lucky foods, fireworks and zodiac animals that represent each year.

Metro Atlanta restaurants and others are welcoming the Year of the Horse with special dinners, pop-ups, festivals and performances. Here’s a look at where to celebrate.

Dining experiences

Lunar New Year dinner at JenChan’s in Cabbagetown

When: Feb. 17–22
Where: JenChan’s, 186 Carroll St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
Phone: (470) 439-0048

JenChan’s in Cabbagetown is serving a festive menu featuring baijiu liquor, “wealthy” dumplings, family-style thit heo kho trung, fortune cabbage wraps, long life bok choy, prosperous whole fish, longevity noodles and more.

Lunar New Year Party at Ruby Chow’s

When: Feb. 17
Where: Ruby Chow’s, 620 Glen Iris Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA
Phone: (404) 974-3675

The celebration features signature dishes for abundance, three complimentary cocktail vouchers, a full cash bar and music from DJ NorthNorthNorth. Guests can also enter raffles featuring Martell Cognac, Don Fulano Tequila and Torresella.

20th Annual Lunar New Year Celebration at Doc Chey’s

When: Jan. 29–Feb. 17
Where: 1424 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30306
Phone: (404) 888-0777

Doc Chey’s marks its 20th annual celebration with pork dumplings for wealth, shrimp rolls for happiness and peanut noodles for longevity. Five dollars from every sampler supports food service workers in crisis.

Lunar New Year Pop-Up Dinner at Talat Market

When: Feb. 28
Where: 112 Ormond St. SE, Atlanta
Phone: (404) 257-6255

This intimate dinner is inspired by family traditions and childhood flavors, with stories shared between courses.

Lunar New Year at Hawkers Asian Street Food

When: Through the end of February
Where: 661 Auburn Ave., Ste. 180, Atlanta, GA
Phone: (470) 809-1586

Hawkers is offering a Yusheng Prosperity Salad. Guests pick their goals for the year, the chef matches them to ingredients and diners toss the salad high with chopsticks for good luck. Serves up to four guests.

Cultural highlights

Orchid Daze at Atlanta Botanical Garden

When: Feb. 14–April 12
Where: 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: (404) 876-5859

The exhibition features global cultural celebrations with dance, music, storytelling and puppetry presented in partnership with local organizations.

Lunar New Year Festival at Stone Mountain Park

When: Saturdays and Sundays, Feb. 14–March 1, 2026 | 4–9 p.m.
Drone & Light Show: 8 p.m.
Where: 1000 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Phone: (478) 478-6686

The festival honors Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and other Lunar New Year traditions with a drone and light show featuring fire drones and fireworks, a lighted parade, craft activities and live entertainment.

Lunar New Year Festival at Atlantic Station

When: Feb. 21, 2026 | 3–7 p.m.
Where: Atlantic Green, 1380 Atlantic Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30363

Guests can enjoy Kung Fu and Tai Chi demonstrations, a traditional Lion Dance, boba tea and dumplings, mahjong, Chinese Zodiac readings and hands-on crafts.

For savvy shoppers, estate sales are a bargain and an adventure all at once. You’ll find home decor, appliances, clothing, and everything in between well below the original ticket price. At an estate sale, a homeowner’s belongings are organized for sale, often after they’ve passed or are downsizing to a smaller home. Generally, the sales are managed by a third-party estate sale company, which takes a percentage of revenue in exchange for preparing the home’s contents for sale. They usually take place in the home itself, so you can make your way through rooms full of interesting goods, priced and ready for browsing—all while taking a peep inside midcentury ranches, Victorian manses, and Craftsman cottages across the city.

“I feel like Decatur is kind of more your eclectic, artsy kind of town, and then Sandy Springs is a little bit fancier,” says Kelsey Waterworth, owner of Fresh Start Estate Sales. “Different parts of town obviously have different things, but that’s not true across the board.”

Ruth Hartman, owner of Ruth’s Reselling, has her time-trusted favorites. “Tucker, Avondale Estates, Stone Mountain, Decatur—those are our sweet spots,” says Hartman, who has been in the business for more than a decade. Her client families in these neighborhoods are often the first and only owner of the home. “People have been there for 40 years or more. The basement is full of treasures,” she explains. “The wallpaper is usually still up from when they bought the house. The green shag carpet is still there. It’s going back in time.”

Photograph by The Sintoses

Part of the magic of estate sales is exploring the world built by the homeowner, says Randall Hudson of Crystal Clear Advisors. “Everything that is in that house is somewhat of a treasure, otherwise it wouldn’t be there,” he says. “The stuff in the junk drawer or the little tchotchkes that a lot of the younger generation doesn’t care about now meant something to them.”

Estate sales aren’t just a bargain; they’re also a way to shop sustainably, giving used goods a second life. Younger shoppers are increasingly drawn to estate sales, according to Modern Retail. It’s part of a larger secondhand trend among Gen Z shoppers, who are motivated by lower prices, sustainability, and the chance to find something unique and special—such as 1996 Olympic merch, a current craze in the Atlanta thrift scene.

Photograph by The Sintoses

To make the most of estate sale shopping, try taking a photo of an item in the Google Lens app, which will pull up listings for similar items from eBay and Etsy, giving you an idea of its value, age, and origins. Estate sellers set their own prices, however, and may or may not be open to negotiation.

“If you’re here at the beginning of the first day, don’t start bundling [offering a discounted price for multiple items] or haggling,” says Hartman. Waterworth agrees that on the first day, prices may be less negotiable. But don’t be afraid to ask, she adds: “I wish people would haggle more—come and do the dance with me. But also be within limits. Be respectful.”

To stay in the good graces of the fine people who operate estate sales, it’s important to respect the home you’re in, which doesn’t function like a traditional store. Don’t open closed doors or go behind taped-off areas. “Blue tape means don’t go behind it,” Hartman says she tells first-timers.

Waterworth even locks the doors of bathrooms because of past shoppers’ behavior. “Remember the human element of people’s homes,” she says. “You know, this is someone’s family.”

These experts have seen just about everything, including thwarted theft, fistfights, and requests to purchase unusual items. Hudson even sold a car.

“You know what we sold at a recent sale?” Hartman says. “Dirt from the driveway.” She chuckles. “How do you price dirt?”

Photograph by The Sintoses

Estate Sale Shopping Tips

Find (and carefully read) the listings
Most estate sale listings will be found on websites like EstateSales.net, local Facebook groups, or signs posted in the surrounding neighborhood. The listings provide the dates and sale location and generally include helpful information such as hours and parking details, as well as photos of select items to give shoppers an idea of what’s on offer.

Pay attention to details
Some sales are cash only, while others allow pay apps or credit cards (many charge a credit card fee). Others have limited parking and allow you to use the driveway only for loading large furniture. The listings can also tell you what kind of discounts you can expect: Most estate sales mark down items by 25 to 50 percent on the last days of the sale.

Follow the rules
Some sales have a system for entry, especially if it’s the first day or if there are highly sought-after items. You may have to physically wait in line to enter (sometimes people line up hours before opening) or be assigned a number so that when the sale opens, you can enter when your number is called. And, as previously mentioned, respect the space; this is someone’s home.

Look carefully
While the photos in the listing are the best way to understand the “vibe” of a sale, the most unique items may not even be included. Check out the laundry room, garage, and other parts of the house often overlooked by the crowds, if they’re marked open to shoppers: That’s how one recent estate sale visitor found a Hermès scarf in a $2 bin.

Prices aren’t always set in stone
While most items are prepriced, there is usually room for negotiation. Some estate sales offer discounts for “bundles,” or several pieces purchased at once; you may see signs listing this option, or feel free to offer the deal yourself. But be respectful with your haggling—don’t throw out ridiculously low offers and expect it to work.

This article appears in our February 2026 issue.

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Joe Russo’s Almost Dead explored the duality of love and Valentine’s Day on Saturday in Atlanta, closing the weekend with the Allman Brothers Band‘s “Whipping Post” and the Grateful Dead‘s “They Love Each Other”.

Saturday’s show at The Eastern finished a three-show, three-state run that also saw covers of The Spencer Davis Group‘s “Don’t Want You No More”, Tampa Red‘s “It Hurts Me Too”, Vanilla Fudge‘s “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, and Derek and the Dominos‘ “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?”. The song selections for the bruised-hearted continued on Saturday, with a “Foolish Heart” opener out of a Joe Russo/Marco Benevento duo-led jam.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “Jam” > “Foolish Heart” (Grateful Dead) — 2/14/26

Amid an upbeat “Shakedown Street”, the band recognized “All the lonely people” with teases of “Eleanor Rigby”, ahead of a foot-stomping, glass-shattering transition into Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World”. JRAD played just the chorus, but the song’s iconic rumble served as a perfect transition to Bob Weir‘s “Cassidy”. The uninterrupted first set continued with the jubilant “Scarlet Begonias”, Scott Metzger going Waylon Jennings on “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line”, and finally a more optimistic “Good Lovin’” to close.

For the final set of the weekend, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead charged out with “The Music Never Stopped”. The choice proved prophetic, as the band once again turned in a non-stop set of continuous music, moving through a poignant pairing of “He’s Gone” and “Estimated Prophet”. The mournful refrain of “Nothing’s gonna bring him back” exploded into a flood of envelope-filtered guitar, swirling B3 organ, and percussive crashes, ultimately riding the bobbing waves off the golden shore.

The normally blissful reggae-ish tune instead became a cathartic highlight of the night, seguing to a relatively compact but still thoroughly exploratory “Dark Star”. The 16-minute “Truckin’” that followed proved to be the longest single song of the night, leading into a tribute to the late Phil Lesh with “The Eleven”.

Keeping up the sequence of bass-fueled selections, Dave Dreiwitz‘s low chuggle announced the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post”, which came down with scorned fury to end the second set. This marked the second straight year JRAD has honored the Allmans during its traditional February trip to The Eastern, following last year’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”.  Finally, the weekend came to a close with a dose of positivity via “They Love Each Other”.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “The Eleven” (Grateful Dead) > “Whipping Post” (Allman Brothers Band) — 2/14/26

[Video: Sean C]

Check out some photos from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at The Eastern by Christian Stewart, along with full-show audio by ddyche and video by BruizerNet. Up next for JRAD is a Southern swing through Dallas (4/30), Austin (5/1), and the band’s annual trip to New Orleans (5/2) during Jazz Fest. Find tickets and tour dates here.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Eastern — Atlanta, GA — 2/14/26 — First Set

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Eastern — Atlanta, GA — 2/14/26 — Second Set & Encore

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Eastern — Atlanta, GA — 2/14/26 — Full Audio

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Eastern | Atlanta, GA | 2/14/26

Set One: Jam > Foolish Heart [1] > Shakedown Street [2] > Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young) [3] > Cassidy > Scarlet Begonias > Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line (Jim Alley) > Good Lovin’ (The Olympics)
Set Two: Jam > The Music Never Stopped > He’s Gone > Estimated Prophet > Dark Star > Truckin’ [4] > The Eleven > Whipping Post (Allman Brothers Band)
Encore: They Love Each Other

[1] “Feel Like A Stranger” ending
[2] “Eleanor Rigby” tease
[3] Partial
[4] “Dark Star” tease