Celebrate the Year of the Tiger with a free Chinese New Year program of events and activities this Saturday at the Newton Free Library.
Starting at 1 p.m., this year's events include a concert of traditional Chinese music and word games Chinese typically play during the New Year Lantern Festival.
Zhao Zhimin will play traditional Chinese music on the er-hu, an ancient two-stringed instrument like a violin known for its firm but gentle tone. He will then lead student musicians from the Chinese Traditional Music School, of Boston, which plays and sings a combination of romantic tunes, rural ballads and popular patriotic songs.
Next Sunshine Yuan, a native of Shanghai, will share traditional Chinese word games and riddles with library patrons.
In China, the riddles are often attached to lanterns for people to solve during the Latern Festival. Yuan will explain how the riddles use the frequent synonym and homonyms found in spoken Chinese which uses several tones instead of consonants. Small prizes will be given to the winners.
The library, which is handicapped accessible, is located at 330 Homer St., in Newton Centre. For more information, call 617-796-1360 or visit www.newtonfreelibrary.net.
