ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Saturday’s snowy weather did not dampen the festivities at Nicholas Conservatory, as kids gathered to ring in the Year of the Rabbit.

The “Nicholas at Night: Lunar New Year” event had a variety of traditions, games and activities. All the kids got red envelopes like they do in many Asian cultures. There were also dragon puppets and lanterns.

The Lunar New Year celebration is a new event at the conservatory, so they made sure to include how the holiday is celebrated differently in all the distinct cultures.

“Over 1.5 billion people celebrate Lunar New Year, and those are people across many different countries and cultures, so it’s a little bit different everywhere,” said Lyndi Toohill, manager of education and programs at Nicholas Conservatory. “So, it’s been fun to learn about all the different cultures and how they celebrate. On our little committee that we kind of have going, we have people from Laos, we’ve got some folks from Mongolia and then from China.”

A live rabbit was even there to join in on the fun. The next Year of the Rabbit will be in 12 years.