22nd Annual Lunar New Year at OMCA: Year of the Rabbit
January 29, 2023 @ 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Doors open at 11 am; festivities begin at 12 pm | Celebration ends at 4pm
Join us on OMCA’s campus to ring in the Year of the Rabbit together. The Rabbit is the 4th animal of the Chinese zodiac. In Vietnam, the cat takes the place of the rabbit.
Festival access starts at 11am; food market opens at 11am; activities and performances start at 12pm.
Please note the following information as you make your plans:
Weather: The Lunar New Year Celebration will proceed this weekend, rain or shine.
Traffic: Downtown Oakland will be lively with Lunar New Year festivities, including the inaugural Oakland Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade, 11 am – 1 pm.
9th and 10th Streets between Madison and Webster will be closed to traffic for the parade. For a map of the parade route, visit the OCIC website.
Parking: Parking will be available for $10 in the OMCA Garage located at 1000 Oak St. with entrances on Oak and 12th Streets. Street parking may also be available.
Overflow parking will be available for $7 at Alco Park, located at 165 13th Street.
ASL interpretation will be provided.
Lunar New Year Celebration Tickets
There are four types of tickets for the Lunar New Year Celebration.
Festival only – access to all Lunar New Year performances and activities
Member tickets – Members receive free Lunar New Year festival access
Festival + Special Exhibition – enjoy the festival and see our special exhibition, Angela Davis–Seize the Time
Festival + Gallery Talks & Core Galleries – enjoy festival access, gallery talks, and access to the galleries of California Art, Natural Sciences, and History.
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. Please note, brunch will not be served during the Lunar New Year celebration.
Town Fare Sundeck, Mid Level
11 am–4 pm – Pick up drinks and quick bites at the outdoor Town Fare Sundeck
Food Market, Garden, Mid and Lower Levels
Curated by Henry Hsu of Oramasama Dumplings and Julian Liu, Food Culture Historian
11 am–4 pm – Enjoy a delectable variety of beverages and food offerings from Bay Area AAPI chefs
We’ve partnered with Cut Fruit Collective to create an Oakland AAPI Small Food Business map for our neighbors in Chinatown and Eastlake Little Saigon. We challenge you to try and support as many as you can going into Lunar New Year!
Opening Celebration
Garden Stage
12–12:15 pm – Usher in the New Year and chase evil spirits away with a lucky lion dance by Developing Virtue Secondary School
Performances
Download the map of activities.
Garden Stage *
12:30–1:00 pm – Nanta Drum Play and Pan-Gut by Hansamo’s Nanta, Pungmulnori & Dance Teams
1:15–1:45 pm – Vietnamese 16-string đàn tranh (zither) performance by Vân-Ánh Võ
2:00–2:30 pm – Filipino Singkil dance performance and lesson by Earlene Escobal and the Pilipinx American Student Association at CSU East Bay
2:45–3:00 pm – Malaysian 24 Seasons Drumming by Developing Virtue Secondary School
3:15–3:35 pm – Street style dance performance and lesson by Str8jacket, as seen on America’s Got Talent
* If raining, performances will move to the James Moore Theater, Lower Level
Storytime
Lecture Hall, Lower Level **
1-1:30 pm and 3-3:30 pm – The Year of the Rabbit: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac with author Oliver Chin
2-2:30 pm – Toddler Storytime with the Oakland Public Library
** Limited seating. Doors open 15 minutes before each storytime.
Hands-on Activities
Garden, Lower Level
12–4:00 pm – Create paper lanterns with Developing Virtue Secondary School.
Koi Pond, Lower Level
12–4:00 pm – Make a paper-cut of a rabbit, a cat, “Spring” (春), or your own design!
California Room, Lower Level
12-4:00 pm – Create care cards for elders experiencing food insecurity in neighboring Chinatown and Little Saigon with Cut Fruit Collective.
Oak Street Plaza, Upper Level
12-4:00 pm – Chalkboard Conversation
Panel Talk
History Gallery, Mid Level
1-1:30 pm – Join us for a special edition of Oakland Asian Cultural Center’s Open E.A.R.S. for Change, a series that highlights the intersection between Black and Asian histories in Oakland. Stephanie Hoang from OACC will moderate a lively conversation about cross-racial solidarity with oral historian Roy Chan and Carolyn Johnson of the Black Cultural Zone. Gallery admission required.
Closing Celebration
Garden Stage
3:45 pm – End the celebration with an exuberant dragon dance performed by Developing Virtue Secondary School.
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is committed to providing programs that are accessible, welcoming, and inclusive of our community. Assistive listening devices and wheelchairs are available for checkout on a first come, first served basis at the Ticketing Desk. To request other accommodations such as Cantonese, Spanish, or another language interpreter, please email [email protected] at least three weeks before the event.
OMCA Lunar New Year is made possible in part by generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board.
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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.
Vân-Ánh Võ is an award-winning performer of the 16-string đàn tranh (zither) and an Emmy Award-winning composer who has collaborated with Kronos Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma. She was the first Vietnamese artist to perform at the White House, receiving the Artist Laureate Award for her community contributions through the arts.
Hansamo 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.
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.
Earlene Escobal has been dancing Filipino folk since 2012 with the Mabuhay Folkloric Society, which performs around the Bay Area, including Pistahan and Filipino Heritage Night for the Oakland Athletics and Golden State Warriors.
Cut Fruit Collective (CFC) is a grassroots non-profit organization rooted in serving Oakland Chinatown while building and strengthening coalitions across communities. CFC supports SF Bay Area AAPI communities through art, publishing, and a shared love of food.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center builds vibrant communities through Asian and Pacific Islander arts and cultural programs that foster inter-generational and cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, collaboration, and social justice.
The Pilipinx American Student Association (PASA) engages students at CSU East Bay in activities that aid enriching educational growth, enhancing Pilipinx cultural awareness, and providing opportunities for community service and leadership development.
Oakland Public Library cardholders can participate in Discover and Go, which provides free and low-cost tickets to world-class museums, theaters, aquariums, zoos and science centers.
Developing Virtue Secondary School was founded on the ideals set forth in the teachings of the Buddha. In partnership with parents, the school strives to instill and develop in students the core virtues of kindness, filial piety, respect, trustworthiness, fairness, citizenship, integrity, and humility.
Henry Hsu expresses his Taiwanese heritage through cooking, teaching, and sharing his story. You can catch him teaching dumpling making around the Bay Area. Obsessive in using locally grown, responsibly sourced ingredients, his food shows off his Taiwanese roots and proudly bridges all things Bay Area.
Julian Liu, a Bay Area native, is a nonprofit communications consultant and food and culture history enthusiast with a particular interest in how foodways intersect within and beyond borders.
