Block party madness! Kung Hee Fat Choy! (Happy New Year!)

As if the Pro Bowl being here weren't enough, with its oodles of get-downs and Saturday night's block party in Waikiki, Chinese New Year is on Feb. 3 — meaning the annual block party and parade in Chinatown is this weekend. Honolulu might split at the seams from so much partying.

The Chinatown Cultural Plaza has been warming up the last couple of weekends (see video) with lion dances, fireworks, food fried fresh on site (ah, let me extol the delights of piping-hot coconut and black bean gin dui). But the main event is Friday night and all-day Saturday. Saturday's block party will shut down Maunakea, Hotel and Smith Streets. Lions will dance in the streets, stores will light hanging strands of red fireworks, food and arts vendors will hawk tasty and delightful wares. There will be dancing and martial arts, and on Saturday the big parade rolls down Hotel Street between the State Capitol and Maunakea Street, featuring a monster dragon and the Narcissus Queen and her court.

Be sure to feed the lions a currency token (paper only) to bring you good luck in the new year.



But wait! There's more! (Pant, pant, catching of breath.)

The I Love Chinatown Festival is the umbrella for two events. First, another Chinatown block party (catty corner to the other) will go off in the big parking lot next to Murphy's, celebrating both Chinese New Year and the Pro Bowl. Local Asian-fusion giant Indigo provides the food court, with lots of Kid Zone fun by day, bull riding, surf riding, live music, a "full-bar garden" instead of the standard beer garden, a bike show, lion dances, etc. (I almost went into sensory overload just writing that sentence.)

Next, in conjunction with this party is a pub-and-club crawl on Friday and Saturday nights (10 p.m.-2 a.m.). One wristband ($5, or VIP and no line for $15) gets you in to all the hot Chinatown venues: SOHO Mixed Media Bar, Indigo, thirtyninehotel, Bar 35, Manifest, NextDoor and Mercury Bar.

And then we've got the Pro Bowl on Sunday. Gird yourself, Honolulu — it'll be a wild one this weekend.

ARTafterDARK

If you can squeeze it in, the celebrated last-Friday-of-the-month soiree at the Honolulu Academy of Arts kicks off on Friday with its own Chinese New Year theme, "Show Me the Bunny."

You can make your own Chinese crafts or visit among renowned Asian art collections while enjoying drinks, great food and DJs.

It's killing me not to go — this is one of my favorite events — but I have friends moving to the Mainland and they're doing a big karaoke sendoff that night, so I must instead sing my heart out. On the upside, ARTafterDARK is a monthly party. Till next time...