24th Annual Lunar New Year at OMCA: Year of the Snake
Febrero 8 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Gather with us at OMCA for our 24th Annual Lunar New Year Celebration. Celebrate and honor Lunar New Year traditions through family-friendly storytelling, performances, activities, and more. Come together to uplift AAPI communities and explore the shared connections between Asian cultures of the Bay Area.
Join us on OMCA’s campus to slither into the Year of the Snake together. Festival access starts at 11am; activities and performances start at 12pm. Parking is available in OMCA’s Oak Street Garage for a day rate of $10.
Se proporcionará interpretación ASL para el escenario OMCA Garden.
Schedule of Events
FOOD AND BEVERAGES
TOWN FARE CAFE, MID LEVEL
11 am–4 pm Enjoy cuisine and beverages that pay tribute to Chef Michele’s Southern roots and Oakland upbringing and bring together flavors from the diverse cultures within the local community.
TOWN FARE PATIO, MID LEVEL
11 am–4 pm Pick up drinks and quick bites inspired by Lunar New Year at the outdoor Town Fare Patio.
FOOD VENDORS, OAK STREET PLAZA
11 am–4 pm Enjoy a delectable variety of food offerings from Bay Area AAPI chefs.
OPENING CELEBRATION
GARDEN STAGE
12–12:20 pm Usher in the New Year and chase evil spirits away with a lucky lion dance by LionDanceME.
PERFORMANCES
GARDEN STAGE *
12:45–1:30 pm Nanta, Samgomu, and Pan-Gut by Hansamo’s Nanta, Pungmul & Dance Teams
2:00–2:30 pm Interactive lion dance performance with LionDanceME—take pictures with the lions and dancers!
3:00–3:35 pm Dance performances by Bay Area Independent Chinese Dancers
STORYTIME
LECTURE HALL, LOWER LEVEL **
12:30–1 pm The Year of the Snake: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac with author Oliver Chin
3–3:30 pm The Year of the Snake: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac with author Oliver Chin
HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES
GARDEN, LOWER LEVEL
12–4:00 pm Create a hanging snake ornament and decorate a red envelope.
KORET PLAZA, LOWER LEVEL
12–4:00 pm Write a wish for your community for the new year and add it to our collective Year of the Snake artwork!
CALIFORNIA ROOM, LOWER LEVEL
12:30–3:30 pm Learn about the art of tea making and explore different tea varietals with Donna Lo, founder of local tea company Far Leaves Tea.
GALLERY ACTIVITIES
GALLERY OF CALIFORNIA ART, UPPER LEVEL
1–2:00 pm Join us for a special edition of Gallery Chats led by Bay Area artist Chelsea Ryoko Wong and OMCA’s Senior Curator of Art Carin Adams. Wong will share about the inspiration and process for developing her exciting new installation titled Ancestral Visions. This talk will explore the fantastical reimaging of the lives and ephemera of seven 20th century Chinese American women highlighted in OMCA’s textile collection.
ALL GALLERIES, LOWER, MID, UPPER LEVELS
1–3:00 pm Gallery Chats at OMCA takes an informal approach to the traditional museum tour by encouraging meaningful conversations and fresh interpretations to connect with the artwork, artifacts, and stories in our galleries. Visitors are invited to chat, ask questions, and connect with our OMCA facilitators who combine content knowledge with lived experience to encourage meaningful dialogue and fresh interpretations of our exhibitions.
Las Charlas en la Galería tienen lugar en nuestras Exposiciones Especiales y en nuestras Galerías de Arte, Historia y Ciencias Naturales de California todos los sábados de 13:00 a 15:00 horas y están incluidas en la entrada al Museo y a las Exposiciones Especiales. No es necesario reservar.
11 am–4:00 pm Pick up a self-guided Lunar New Year Zodiac Animal Quest activity sheet and Chelsea Ryoko Wong Conversation Guide at the hands-on activity tables in the Garden and Koret Plaza.
CLOSING CELEBRATION
GARDEN STAGE
3:45 pm End the celebration with an energetic Year of the Snake performance by LionDanceME.
* En caso de lluvia, las representaciones se trasladarán a la planta baja del teatro James Moore.
** Limited seating. Doors open 15 minutes before each storytime.
El Año Nuevo Lunar del OMCA es posible en parte gracias al generoso apoyo de la Junta de Mujeres del Museo de Oakland.
About the performers and partners
As seen on America’s Got Talent, this is LionDanceME, fresh off of a world lion dance championship in Malaysia! They made history by having the first female in the world to win the Western Lion King title, and continue to keep the cultural art of dragon and lion dance alive through youth programs at over 30 different schools in San Francisco. You can check out their showcase every Sábado at 4pm in the heart of Chinatown on Grant Avenue!
Hansamo is a non-profit organization where Korean American middle and high school students and their parents in the Bay Area come together to celebrate Korean language and traditions. We promote cultural understanding and enrich our community through performances.
Since 2011, Hansamo has been making a significant impact in spreading the love for Korean language and culture throughout the Bay Area. We have performed at numerous cultural events and successfully brought Korean language classes to public schools such as Dougherty Valley and California High School in San Ramon.
BAICD is a collective of independent Chinese dancers, choreographers, and allied artists who use traditional arts to tell new Bay Area and global stories in our own voices. While we were created to provide a gender-inclusive home for 22-50 year-old Chinese dancers, we are open to anyone who shares our passion for creating new work in traditional arts and original interpretations of derived pieces, regardless of age, national origin, gender, or other dance team/studio affiliations. Our goal is not to replicate the traditional studio model, but to focus on original choreographies and solos that better fit with working adults’ schedules while democratizing individual dancers’ artistic voice. We hope to connect traditional audiences with local issues, and use our public engagement to introduce new communities to the diversity of Chinese dance.
Oliver Chin is the author of over 20 books, including Tales from the Chinese Zodiac and More Awesome Asian Americans: 20 Citizens Who Enriched America. Founder of the children’s book publisher Immedium, he published the original Octonauts books which inspired the worldwide hit animated series.
Donna Lo has been buying tea and teaware for Far Leaves Tea in Berkeley for over 25 years. She’s traveled to Taiwan, China, and Japan to find the best sources for good tea and handmade teaware. As co-founder of Far Leaves she develops tea and snack recipes for the teashop and introduces countless people to the simple art of having tea.