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Dancing dragons, the blast of fireworks and a rising tide of red envelopes are all sure signs that something big is just around the corner.

People in Jakarta will welcome Chinese New Year on Thursday by taking part in a variety of planned public events and private ceremonies throughout the city.

While New Year celebrations have always been observed, whether publicly or privately, by many in Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese communities, it has only been recently that the holiday has gained more universal appeal in the country.

In the past few years, Indonesians from all walks of life have begun embracing many of the holiday’s colorful traditions even if they aren’t totally clear about the rich cultural symbolism in which most of these events are steeped.

Some of the more popular traditions are the lion dance, known as the barongsai , as well as the giving out of red envelopes, or angpau , containing money.

These envelopes are traditionally exchanged by family members and friends to clear up any debts before the start of the new year or as a sign of thanks and respect.

Interestingly, children usually get a red envelope from their parents until they reach a certain age, after which they become the ones who do the giving each year.

The barongsai, in particular, seems to have caught on in a big way here, winning fans with its colorful and vibrant display.

“The last few years have been good for Chinese traditions in Indonesia,” said Susanto, the co-chairman and spokesman for a charitable foundation called Dharma Cinta Kasih Barongsai (DCK), which also has a lion dance team.

He said that ever since the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime, there had been a steady increase in the freedom to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Along with this has come a greater interest in the holiday’s traditions.

Susanto points to the increasingly common sight of Chinese New Year decorations in malls around Jakarta, including those in areas not normally associated with the city’s ethnic Chinese community.

“Only a few years ago, you would never see a barongsai exhibition in a mall outside of maybe Pluit Mall or Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta,” he said, referring to parts of the city with lots of ethnic Chinese residents.

“This year, you see New Year’s decorations in every mall — even in South Jakarta.”

Upscale malls such as Pacific Place and Grand Indonesia are leading the way.

Grand Indonesia is celebrating with a program called “Enchanting Blossoms,” which has already played host to an award-winning lion dance team from Malaysia, called Kun Seng Keng.

Mall spokeswoman Teges Prita Soraya said they booked the team because they felt the dance would be fun for shoppers.

In a signal that the celebration is also popular among young shoppers — or perhaps how even one of the world’s oldest holidays is not immune to modern culture — the mall booked a hip-hop lion dance team for a performance on Friday.

Pacific Place mall has an entire traditional Chinese house on display in its main lobby, while Plaza Indonesia is hosting an ongoing event called the Chinese New Year Fashion and Jewelry Fair to Feb. 19.

Susanto said his organization’s lion dance team had received invitations to perform all over the city this year.

The two most memorable offers, he said, were to dance at a birthday party for Guruh Soekarnoputra, the son of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, and an invitation to perform at the State Palace.

“We’ve played in areas you would not expect to find people who are interested in barongsai,” Susanto said.

He attributes the increasing interest in Chinese traditions, barongsai in particular, to the fact that these traditions tend to be loud, colorful and fun, qualities that fit well with Indonesian sensibilities when it comes to entertainment.

“Whether at a mall, a public event or a private party, when a barongsai dance team joins the celebration, it almost always adds a new level of excitement to the event,” he said.

And don’t think that the city’s ethnic Chinese populations are the only ones getting in on the fun. Most barongsai troupes in the city are made up of dancers from all types of ethnic backgrounds.

“We have all types of people on our team. And, I would say, almost every other troupe I know of is the same.”

Wiendariningsih, an ethnic Chinese businesswoman who lives in Jakarta, said the Chinese New Year celebrations in Indonesia just got more exciting each year.

Wien, as her friends call her, remembers that Chinese New Year used to be a gloomy event when she was a child.

“When I was a kid, we could only celebrate Chinese New Year inside our house. People weren’t allowed to celebrate it in public,” she said.

Susanto said he was glad the holiday had gained more acceptance outside the ethnic Chinese community, but added that his troupe always made sure to inject some genuine traditional form and meaning into its performances, as a way of preserving and passing on a bit of the true meaning behind the holiday.

“Sometimes we perform at places such as schools and we always try to give the background behind the dance,” he said.

For Susanto, it’s mostly about having fun, but if he can pass on a little understanding about the culture he loves, then, to him, that means a happier New Year for everyone.