Lunar New Year celebrations are underway in Orange County.
The Year of the Dragon will be ushered in on Feb. 10, but ceremonies and events are spread throughout the upcoming week and even later into the month. Here are just some of the celebrations planned in Orange County – there are many more planned by local shopping centers, community groups, city recreation departments, libraries and schools, so also check your local area.
Santa Ana is hosting its Tết festival – the traditional celebration in Vietnamese communities – from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Centennial Park with lion and dragon dances, other cultural performances, family activities, food vendors and fireworks at 6:45 p.m.
Also on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., a free Lunar New Year celebration will be hosted by Fountain Valley at the city’s Recreation Center, 16400 Brookhurst St. Learn about Vietnamese history and culture with games and activities, city officials said.
The OC Public Library system has a month of planned celebrations at its various branches, including events at the Westminster Library (10 a.m.) and the Library of the Canyons in Silverado (11:30 a.m.) on Feb. 3. Those celebrations include children’s activities and cultural performances.
The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has a Lunar New Year Festival planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 4 – rain or shine. There will be art activities, treats and dance and music performances. The event is free, see bowers.org for a schedule of performances.
Coming up in February there are also lion dance performances planned at the Brea branch at 11 a.m. on Feb. 10, at the University Park branch in Irvine at 3 p.m. on Feb. 17 and at the Laguna Niguel library at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 24.
There are several other events, including special storytimes and making crafts, check ocpl.org/lunar-new-year-2024 for the entire list.
The Westminster School District, in the heart of Orange County’s Little Saigon community, has activities planned all week with student performances and cultural celebrations at several campuses. The students will also be participating in two of Orange County’s largest celebrations, the Westminster Tết Parade on Feb. 10 and the UVSA Tết Festival, which is hosted at the fairgrounds from Feb. 9-11.
On Feb. 5, UC Irvine will have cultural performances and discussions, games, arts and crafts and food during a day of programs celebrating the Lunar New Year. Activities are planned from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and details can be found at news.uci.edu.
A Tết Festival hosted by First District Supervisor Andrew Do’s office will be free to the community at Mile Square Park on Feb. 9, 10 and 11. Families can explore the Vietnamese Cultural Center, which will feature “some of the most iconic landscapes from different regions of Vietnam,” and there will be a variety of Vietnamese dishes, cultural performances, including lion dances, and fun offered over the three days.
Hours are 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 9, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 10 and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 11.
The Pacific Symphony’s seventh annual Lunar New Year concert will be at 8 p.m. on Feb. 10, offering a “colorful presentation of Eastern and Western music and dance celebrating the Year of the Dragon.” The concert will feature hundreds of performers and internationally acclaimed guest artists; tickets begin at $28, visit PacificSymphony.org for more information.
The nonprofit Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California continues its tradition of hosting a massive Tết Festival at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.
The UVSA marshals hundreds of staff and volunteers to pull off the three-day event, which features a cultural village at its heart with cultural exhibits, models of Vietnamese architecture, activities reflecting Vietnamese culture and life and more.
Highlights include the Raising of the Bamboo ceremony at 5 p.m. on Feb. 9; the Ancestral Altar Procession at 2 p.m. on Feb. 10; and a Spring Wedding ceremony at 12:15 p.m. on Feb. 11.
The weekend also features fun contests, lots of entertainment and food to try, games, exhibitors and more. Hours are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 9; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 10; and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Feb. 11.
Admission is $8; those wearing traditional outfits or military and scout uniforms can get in free from noon to 1 p.m. on Feb. 10. Find more information at tetfestival.org.
Flower Street on Historic Main Street will feature day-long street festivals on Feb. 10 and 11. Main Street will be closed to traffic from Garden Grove Boulevard to Acacia Parkway and will be decorated with floral displays. There will be shopping and activities throughout each day.
Hours Feb. 10 will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with an opening ceremony, traditional lion dance, performances and games planned; Feb. 11 will be 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with similar plans.
Little Saigon TV and the Vietnamese Creatives Collective are hosting a Lunar New Year’s Eve countdown show, “Harmony of the Dragon,” from 7 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 9 at the nearby Garden Amp outdoor amphitheater.
The annual Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, a daily event offering shopping for exotic flowers and trees traditionally used as gifts and to decorate homes for the holiday, continues through Feb. 8 On Feb. 10, the Asian Garden Mall will host its Tet Firecracker Celebration at noon with “dazzling fireworks” and traditional dragon dances in its parking lot.
The city of Westminster is helping keep the Little Saigon community’s tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year alive by hosting the always popular Tết Parade – the parade has been organized by various entities over the years, but in 2023 city leaders stepped in to make sure the parade continued.
The festivities on Feb. 10 will start with an opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m. and the always vibrant parade steps off at 9:30 a.m. Thousands crowd the route each year – it will travel Bolsa Avenue from Magnolia Street and turn right on Bushard Street, ending at Bishop Place – and it is also streamed around the world.
