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The Oakland Museum of California welcomes in the Lunar New Year with a festival of Asian traditions

(OAKLAND, CA)—Celebrate the Year of the Horse with a day of Asian New Year traditions at the Oakland Museum of California on Sunday, February 9, 2014 from 12 to 4:30 pm. Featuring activities for the entire family, the 13th annual celebration honors California’s diversity and celebrates the many time-honored traditions of Asian communities. The event is included with Museum admission.

The day’s performances and activities include: an opening lion dance and closing dragon dance with students from the Developing Virtue Secondary School, acrobatics performed by ‘The Happy Chef,’ Xia Kemin, known for his comedy/plate-spinning act, joined by his students performing contortionist tricks, and a martial arts demonstration and Vietnamese cultural dance by Vovinam America. Enjoy Korean Pop dances performed by the Korean Performance Group from UC Berkeley, and Bhangra dance performed by Duniya Dance and Drum Company. Enjoy traditional music from different Asian cultures, including Chinese music performed by the Dharma Realm Chinese Orchestra, a Taiko drumming performance by Jiten Daiko, and Melody of China, playing a wide-ranging repertoire of traditional music from China.

Families with young children can activate their imagination with a magic show by The Magic of Chin-Chin and story time, featuring The Year of the Horse: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac with author Oliver Chin, and Japanese folktales with Storyteller Megumi. Visitors can adorn themselves with Chinese Opera face makeup by opera artists Yuan Yuan Huang and Helen Chou, and Henna art with Rachel Anne Palacios. Hands-on activities include Tibetan prayer flag-making (in honor of Losar, Tibetan New Year) with Thangka painting artist Jamyong Singye, Korean Bojagi wrapping cloth-making with Youngmin Lee, and Japanese handmade dolls with Mikio Sakuma. Take in beautiful Ikebana flower arrangements by Mary Venkat, Yvonne Ahoy-Stohlman, Hiromi Nomura, and Michiko Shimoda, and much, much more!

Bring the whole family and celebrate the Lunar New Year at OMCA!  All performances and demonstrations are included with Museum admission.