The Lunar New Year this year is on January 23, and with the San Francisco Bay Area's largely diverse population, you can guarantee there will be a plethora of vibrant, traditional, and joyously fun community events centered around 2023's Year of the Rabbit.
From a delightful flower market, to children's activities, and extravagant downtown parades, here are local Lunar New Year events you can't miss this year.
See also: Grab A Traditional Pastry At These Best Bay Area Asian Bakeries
View this post on Instagram
Kick off your Chinese New Year in the most colorful and fragrant way with the bountiful Flower Market Fair! On January 14 and 15, multiple locations within the authentic Chinatown neighborhood will be overflowing with an absolute meadow of all the traditional new year essentials, including homemade food, candies, auspicious fruits, and all of the most gorgeous plants and flowers. There is set to be over 120 friendly booths, as well as live performances of acrobats, folk dancers, magicians, and so much more for a truly festive and heartwarming reprieve from the ongoing rain.
View this post on Instagram
655 International Blvd, Oakland / Website
Vietnam's Lunar New Year Festival is celebrating the Year of the Water Cat, and you can head over to Oakland's Clinton Park in the richly historic Little Saigon neighborhood for a free public party replete with several vendors, delectable cuisine, and more, just be sure not to forget donning your most ravishing ao dai!
View this post on Instagram
1 Warriors Way / (888) 479-4667 / Website
Events at the Chase Center are always memorably jaw-dropping, and at their Thrive City Plaza on Saturday, January 21 at 5 p.m., expect to be blown away even more with their free Lunar New Year Celebration. This is a family-friendly extravaganza that will be vividly brimming with live performances, arts and crafts stations, and plenty of Instagrammable photo opportunities with the over-the-top venue and their Good Fortune Tiger statue.
Be sure to also come decked out in traditional ensembles to fully be immersed in the authentic fun at this beloved public gathering spot!
View this post on Instagram
472 Water St, Oakland / (510) 645-9292 / Website
Lunar New Year with a serene waterfront view- this splendid imagery is exactly what you'll receive at the picturesque Jack London Square in Oakland, as their diverse festivities will include lion dancers, mask-making crafts, captivating martial arts performances, trendy photo opportunities, and plenty of enticing giveaways. This waterfront spectacle is free to attend and will occur from 1 to 3pm.
View this post on Instagram
2050 University Ave, East Palo Alto / (650) 566-1200 / Website
For those around Palo Alto, a stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley will be even more spectacular than its grand usual through their luxurious personalized room amenities that includes irresistibly indulgent red pastries, their finely crafted fig-infused Lunar New Year Cocktail with truffle honey, and even traditional lion dances on Friday, January 27!
Kicking off at 5pm by General Manager Adora Manalo, East Palo Alto Mayor Jeff Liu, and more, this dazzling ceremony will showcase lion dancers trained to the Yau Kung Moon discipline for a riveting ode to prosperity and good fortune at this exquisitely lavish property.
View this post on Instagram
575 East El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA / (408) 900-8357 / Website
Sunnyvale's radiant offer for a remarkable Lunar New Year is with The Silicon Valley Conservatory of Music's convivial music storytelling and singing, also accompanied by engaging latern carrying, spring couplets writing, and red envelope activities. This will be a fantastic family event that is melodic, encouraging, and an overall symphony of lovely memories, happening from 1:30pm to 3pm.
View this post on Instagram
1000 Oak St, Oakland / (510) 318-8400 / Website
From noon to 4pm on January 29, the glorious Oakland Museum of California's campus will be illuminated with a beautiful festival that boasts family-friendly live performances, engaging storytelling, impeccable food, and more, all to uplift and empower AAPI communities and highlight their local diasporic stories within the historic Bay Area. Festival access begins an hour before at 11am, and you'll definitely want to get here early to not miss out on everything this iconic local landmark has to offer.
View this post on Instagram
The much-anticipated Chinese New Year Parade presented by Alaska Airlines all occurs on Saturday, February 4 from 5pm to 8pm, and you can guarantee it will return bigger and better than ever. A city-wide favorite, this massive parade invigorates downtown and the adjacent Chinatown neighborhood with luminous firecrackers, impressive floats, and captivating closing fireworks- a storied San Francisco tradition since the 1860s.
Named as one of the top ten global parades to see, this year actor Daniel Wu will serve as the parade's Grand Marshall, traveling down the parth from Market and Second to Kearny and Jackson. The Instagrammable spectacle is free to the public, but you will definitely want to arrive early, and maybe even purchase bleacher seats ranging from $38-$65.
View this post on Instagram
2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara / (408) 248-4450 / Website
Down in Santa Clara, the Westfield Valley Fair across from Santana Row is an ever-popular retail destination, and also on Saturday February 4 is the mall's striking Year of the Rabbit celebration with family-friendly activities, lion and ribbon dancers, a lantern folk dance, and naturally, free red envelopes with the sweet treat of chocolate coins. Be sure to gather outside of the CH Premier at noon to catch the start of the traditional lion dance, which will parade down the center of the complex towards IWC Schaffhausen, with more stage acts from 1 to 3pm at the Bloomingdale's Court.
View this post on Instagram
925 Blossom Hill Rd, San Jose / (408) 578-2912 / Website
Another fabulous mall occasion is at San Jose's opulent Westfield Oakridge, which will have live performances, arts and crafts, and more at the Macy's Court from noon to 4pm. You will also be enthrlled by their offerings of red envelopes packed with a special gift card when you spend $188 at the mall's select shops of Daiso, Macy's, Miniso, Nordstrom Rack, and 99 Ranch Market. Simple show a proof of purchase to the security office to claim your highly-coveted Target gift card prize!
No matter where you celebrate in the Bay, we wish you a prosperous and joyful Year of the Rabbit!
Photography by: Courtesy of Jason Leung/Unsplash
