The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington was transformed into a scene of Chinese New Year celebration over the weekend.

Just as the doors opened at 11:30 am on Jan 31, crowds of mostly parents with young children poured into the Kogod Courtyard, with its Greek Revival architecture.

Inside the enclosed courtyard with glass canopy, the lion dancers from Johns Hopkins University were getting ready.

After a brief lion-awakening ceremony - whose participants included Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the US; Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian Institution undersecretary for history, art and culture; and Elizabeth Broun, the American Art Museum director - the lion dance proceeded to the main stage, accompanied by the sounds of drum and gong and traditional Chinese folk music.

A suona (a double-reeded horn) solo for the Lantern Festival; a flute solo of Hanging Red Lanterns followed by erhu (Chinese two-string fiddle) in a solo of New Horse Racing were performed by artists from central China's Henan province.

The music filled the 28,000-square-foot space of the courtyard with a festive air. Many parents standing in the back of the huge crowds had to lift their children onto their shoulders to see the performance.

Matts Wycoff propped up his 2-year-old son Max, dressed in a bright-blue silk Chinese costume.

"We enjoyed the dragon dance; we saw the panda, the monkey," said Wycoff, who stood with his wife Michelle. The family was traveling from Arizona. Many people often mistakenly refer to the lion dance as the dragon dance.

"I had experienced seven or eight Chinese New Years already, and Max is still learning how to say gung hey fat choi (a Cantonese greeting wishing people a prosperous New Year)," said Wycoff, whose wife is Vietnamese and Chinese.

Nearby, 4-year-old Asa Darlington was playing with a small chunk of yellow dough. "I am making a monkey. This is the Year of the Monkey," he said.

At the table, 73-year-old Zhang Xihe, better known for his nickname Nihou Zhang (Monkey Figurine Zhang), was showing children how to make the figurines.

There were more than a dozen similar tables in the courtyard, filled with children learning and practicing everything from paper-cutting, farmers painting, calligraphy, mask coloring, and Chinese knot-making and lantern-making.

Callun DeLele, 4, was done with his red paper lantern. "I made it by myself," he said, with a sense of pride.

In another corner, Christina Trifonova, of Rockville, Maryland, was putting on a colorful Chinese costume with the help of a volunteer. Her two daughters, Ales, 9, and Sinona, 5, were already dressed up. They then posed for numerous photos.

"It's really interesting for us to learn something from a different country and culture," said Trifonova, who said they were in a hurry to catch the next lion dance.

It was the third year that the American Art Museum hosted the Chinese New Year Family Festival. Visitors on Jan 30 were estimated at 7,300, according to the museum, in comparison with 4,800 last year.

"So this is part of our regular program respecting the people and culture of the world," Kurin said. "We want people to come together, to understand each other and celebrate each other's culture."

Two years ago, the Smithsonian Institution held a Chinese Folk Art Festival on the National Mall, drawing a million visitors.

A celebration to usher in the Year of the Monkey, which falls on Feb 8 this year, also was held at Delaware State University in Dover on Sunday.

Similar events will take place at the Country Club Mall in Cumberland, Maryland, on Wednesday; at the Kennedy Center in Washington from Feb 5-8 (including a concert by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra), and in the Virginian Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond on Feb 13.