United States - January 16, 2025 Storyline: The "Prelude to the Spring Festival Gala" event was held by China Media Group (CMG) in New York City on Thursday, celebrating the rich traditions of the Chinese Lunar New Year just before the arrival of the Year of the Snake. The event, themed "Spring Festival -- Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity", showcased traditional Chinese Spring Festival customs and representative intangible cultural heritage projects, offering the U.S. audience early glimpse of China's annual Spring Festival Gala -- the most-watched Chinese television event. Over 200 guests representing China, the U.S., the United Nations and many other countries attended the event, enjoying performances including ballet, traditional Chinese dragon dancing, and a youth choir. The Spring Festival, which falls on Jan 29 this year, marks the start of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year and is the country's grandest traditional festival. The annual Spring Festival Gala produced by CMG, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has been seen as a major cultural symbol for the traditional Lunar New Year celebrations in China since its debut in 1983. This year's event airs on Jan 28, the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Shotlist: New York, USA - Jan 16, 2025: 1. Prelude to Spring Festival Gala event in progress; 2. China Media Group (CMG) President Shen Haixiong delivering video message 3. Various of guests on stage; audience; 4. Various of performance of Prelude to Spring Festival Gala event in progress; 5. Audience. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]