23rd Annual Lunar New Year at OMCA: Year of the Dragon
February 17 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT!
Gather with us at OMCA for our 23rd 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 ring in the Year of the Dragon together. Festival access starts at 11am; activities and performances start at 12pm.
Festival tickets are $10 and include access to all Lunar New Year performances and activities, entry to all of our galleries as well as our special exhibition, Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya. Children under 12 are free with advance reservations.
This event will take place rain or shine.
Parking is available in OMCA’s Oak Street Garage for a day rate of $10; overflow event parking is available at Alco Park located at 165 13th Street, for a day rate of $7.
ASL Interpretation for OMCA Garden stage will be provided.
See celebration details below, and feel free to bring your own picnic!
Schedule of Events
FOOD AND BEVERAGES
TOWN FARE CAFE, MID LEVEL
11 am–4 pm Enjoy cuisine that pays tribute to Chef Michele’s Southern roots and Oakland upbringing and brings together flavors from the diverse cultures within the local community.
KOI POND, LOWER LEVEL
11 am–4 pm Pick up drinks and quick bites inspired by Lunar New Year at Town Fare’s outdoor snack bar.
FOOD VENDORS, OAK STREET PLAZA
11 am–4 pm Enjoy delectable food offerings from Bay Area AAPI chefs.
OPENING CELEBRATION
JAMES MOORE THEATER, LOWER LEVEL
12–12:20 pm Usher in the New Year and chase evil spirits away with a lucky lion dance by LionDanceME
PERFORMANCES
JAMES MOORE THEATER, LOWER LEVEL *
12:45–1:30 pm Lantern Dance, 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 Street style dance performance and lesson by Str8jacket, as seen on America’s Got Talent
STORYTIME
LECTURE HALL, LOWER LEVEL **
12:30–1 pm The Year of the Dragon: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac with author Oliver Chin
1:30–2:15 pm Storytime with Joanna Ho, author of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners
3–3:30 pm The Year of the Dragon: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac with author Oliver Chin
HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES
KOI POND, LOWER LEVEL
12–4:00 pm Create a paper dragon puppet and twirling paper dragon
12–4:00 pm Write a wish for your community for the new year on a dragon scale and add it to our collective Year of the Dragon artwork!
CALIFORNIA ROOM, LOWER LEVEL
12:30–3:30 pm Learn about and sample a variety of tea with local tea company, Far Leaves Tea founder Donna Lo
GALLERY ACTIVITIES
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.
Gallery Chats take place in our Special Exhibitions and our Galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences every Saturday from 1 to 3 pm and are included with Museum and Special Exhibition admission. No reservation necessary.
KOI POND, LOWER LEVEL
11 am–4:00 pm Pick up a self-guided Lunar New Year Zodiac Animal Quest activity and search for zodiac animals in our core galleries.
CLOSING CELEBRATION
JAMES MOORE THEATER, LOWER LEVEL
3:45 pm End the celebration with an energetic dragon dance performed by LionDanceME.
* Due to expected rain, performances will take place in the James Moore Theater, Lower Level
** Limited seating. Doors open 15 minutes before each storytime.
OMCA Lunar New Year is made possible in part by generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board.
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 Saturday at 4pm in the heart of Chinatown on Grant Avenue!
Hansamo (youth Korean Percussion Group) is a homegrown Bay Area nonprofit that provides opportunities to middle and high school students interested in learning, performing, and promoting traditional Korean music, dance, art, language, and culture.
Founded in the Bay Area in 2012, Str8jacket practices creativity, grit, and growth. They develop economic, social, and philosophical change for their communities through dance, collaboration, and collectivism.
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.
Joanna Ho is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of many books for kids. She has received the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature Honor, a Golden Kite Award, an Ezra Jack Keats Honor, and a Golden Poppy Award. She is a writer and educator with a passion for anti-bias, anti-racism and equity work. She holds a BA in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s from the Principal Leadership Institute at Berkeley. She has been an English teacher, a dean, the designer of an alternative-to-prison program, a creator of educator professional development, and a high school vice principal. She lives in the Bay Area, where she survives on homemade chocolate chip cookies, outdoor adventures, and dance parties with her kids.
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.
