Where to celebrate Lunar New Year in Los Angeles

The L.A. Zoo is bringing back its themed weekends, kicking things off this month with a Lunar New Year celebration—and what better way to welcome the Year of the Snake than by hanging out with real snakes? Take a self-guided tour through the animals of the Chinese zodiac, watch a Mangshan pit viper feeding and write down your hopes for the new year on the Wall of Well Wishes. You can also catch the Asian Arts Talents Foundation’s Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese dance performances, as well as calligraphy, lantern-making and paper-cutting demos. All weekend activities are included in the price of zoo admission.

Note: Before visiting the Pacific Asia Museum, please double-check that it’s currently open—at press time, the museum remained closed due to air quality from the Eaton Fire.

Pasadena’s Pacific Asia Museum museum rings in the Lunar New Year with a free afternoon of pan-Asian activities. You’ll find traditional performances in the museum’s courtyard (think: lion dances, martial arts demonstrations, Korean classical music, opera and storytimes), plus art activities, food trucks and, most importantly, free admission to the galleries. Don’t miss PAM’s PST ART installation, Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey. 

Inspired by Taiwan’s world-famous Lantern Festival, San Gabriel’s Lunar New Year Festival is going all in on lanterns this year, bringing colorful displays to the streets of the city’s Mission District, thanks to the Taiwan Tourism Administration. The free weekend celebration will also offer festive, family-friendly activities, music and dance performances, street food vendors, artisanal craft booths and games. Kids can take home a free zodiac-animal-shaped lantern. 

What better place to celebrate the Lunar New Year than the Huntington Library’s beautiful Chinese Garden? Usher in the Year of the Snake with lion dancers, mask-changing performances, martial arts demonstrations, floral art and music, from Cambodian classical music to Chinese opera, during this two-day event. Look out for some sweet and savory treats just for the occasion (think sushi burritos and creamy shaved ice) from on-site food trucks. Advance ticket reservations are required.

The historic theater is putting on eight distinct cultural events to mark the Lunar New Year during this multi-week festival. Highlights include a performance of Patsy, a play about the first Asian American congresswoman, on January 25; a screening of the first-known Chinese American film, The Curse of Quon Gwon, on January 31; a live lion dance performance by the East Wind Foundation and a dragon puppet-making workshop by Bob Baker Marionette Theater on February 1; and, that evening, a program of new classical works inspired by the moon called “Lunar Harmonies.” Plus, from February 14 through March 9, Master Class finds Tim Dang directing Terrence McNally’s Tony-winning play about opera icon Maria Callas. See the full lineup of events here.

The Long Beach ocean liner hosts an evening of family-friendly activities to celebrate Lunar New Year. Kids can take part in a lantern-making workshop and take home their own keepsake, get up close with snakes and other exotic creatures during a Year of the Snake reptile and animal workshop—or both, with time slots at both 5pm and 6pm.

Learn more about Asian culture as you celebrate Lunar New Year at dining and shopping destination Koreatown Plaza, where you can watch a Chinese lion dance, Korean drum performance and a multicultural fashion show—all for free. You can also shop from a variety of Asian American-owned small businesses and buy books at the Asian American Authors’ Corner. And don’t forget food: The first 500 people in attendance will receive $15 vouchers to use at the plaza’s food court, which counts Awoolim Kimbop, Gamja Bawi, Pao Jao, Tonkatsu House, Bosco Bakery and Cheesetella among its vendors.

Scope out dozens food and craft booths while dragon dances, kung fu demonstrations, live candy sculpting and other entertainment plays out across a street festival. For those new to celebrating the holiday, the fest’s “cultural passport” experience teaches you how different regions celebrate Lunar New Year. This annual event takes place just on Alhambra’s Main Street and celebrates the diversity of the San Gabriel Valley.

Welcome the Year of the Snake amid the lush greenery of South Coast Botanic Garden every weekend this February. Enjoy an afternoon of festive Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean traditions, with hands-on activities including kite-making and puppet-making or a Zodiac Stroll through the grounds. You’ll also find storytelling, a wishing tree, live music, a 360-degree photo booth and specialty food and cocktails (available for purchase). Admission is $15, but for $8 more, you can catch a performance by lion dancers, martial artists, drummers and folk dancers (Sat, Sun at 9:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm).

The Chinese Club of San Marino hosts its annual Lunar New Year Festival in idyllic Lacy Park, which will be filled with cultural performances and displays, games and food vendors serving up savory and sweet treats. The free community event aims to channel good fortune and unite people after the fires affected so many in the San Gabriel Valley. To that end, the fest will also have a dedicated donation booth to raise funds for fire relief. 

Santa Monica Place is welcoming the Year of the Snake with cherry blossom wishing trees, craft kits for kids and shopping deals for adults. Though the red and gold lanterns will stay up from January 29 to February 13, stop by on February 8 (2–5pm) for a free, family-friendly event—expect Chinese lion dance performances on the hour, dough and balloon artists, live music, red envelopes with promotions and more. In advance of Din Tai Fung’s highly anticipated opening at the shopping center, guests will also receive Lunar New Year blessings handwritten by calligraphy artist Emmy Lam to take home.

Head to Benny Boy Brewing for a free Lunar New Year concert by multilingual singer and accordionist Jessica Fichot, who channels the swing era of Shanghai with her band. Expect to hear classic Chinese New Year songs, jazz songs sung in Mandarin and Mandopop. Pair pours from the Lincoln Heights brewery and cider house with food from Zef BBQ (1–8pm) and the Dumpling Dream (6–11pm). 

Close out the Lunar New Year with this pan-Asian celebration of the flavors, sights and sounds of Asia. The expo, established more than four decades ago, will take over multiple stages and exhibition halls at Fairplex in Pomona. Hundreds of vendors, live entertainment and multiple food courts share the space with additional celebrations devoted to K-pop, anime and more.

Westfield Topanga is welcoming the Year of the Snake in style. The Valley shopping center is decked out in festive decor, and will host a lion dance performance (beginning near food hall Topanga Social) and give out lucky red envelopes to guests this Saturday. Shops including Sandro, Maje and Lego will also be selling Lunar New Year-themed items.

Both the Grove and the Americana at Brand observe Lunar New Year with the type of polished, curated displays that you’ve come to expect from the L.A. shopping meccas. Some stores and restaurants are offering special promotions and limited-time items for the holiday, and if you’re a Caruso Signature member, you can pick up a lucky red envelope and a collectible tote bag on Lunar New Year itself, January 29, and earn double “Caruso Coins” at select stores—including David Yurman and Gucci—through February 12. For some free fun, swing by the Americana on February 8 for a parade (1–4pm) featuring traditional lion and dragon dances, as well as performances by the Korean Dance Team.

Join in one of L.A.’s oldest traditions at the 126th annual Golden Dragon Parade (rescheduled from February). The colorful procession of lion dancers, dance troupes, music groups and more will make its way through Chinatown (kicking off at Ord and Hill Streets, and concluding at Broadway and Cesar E Chavez Avenue) on Saturday, March 22, from 1 to 4pm. The parade historically coincides with a free Lunar New Year festival in the Central Plaza as well.

RECOMMENDED: Lunar New Year in Los Angeles

Participate in a 5K or 10K run or walk, a 2K dog walk, a kiddie run or a 20- or 50-mile bike ride that will take you along the L.A. River and through Griffith Park during this weekend-long Lunar New Year tradition in the heart of historic Chinatown (rescheduled from February). All courses start and end at Chinatown Central Plaza, which will host a concurrent, free family-friendly festival with a beer garden and live entertainment, if you want to celebrate without breaking a sweat. Don’t miss the weekend opening ceremony, with lion dancers and the traditional lighting of 100,000 firecrackers. Check the website for a detailed schedule of events.

In partnership with the Firecracker Run’s Paw’er Dog Walk, this second annual Lunar New Year celebration specifically caters to dogs and their owners. The Blossom Plaza event includes Year of the Snake–themed pet photography sessions and portraits, plus shopping, cultural activities and pet adoptions thanks to the Lovejoy Foundation. Entry is free, but if you opt for a PASS (Pawsitive Action Supporting Shelters), you get a swag bag and can help support local animal rescues.

The L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs and Asian makers’ market MAUM are teaming up to present the third annual Lunar Block Party in North Hollywood, celebrating Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese cultures. Welcome in the new and good at the free community event, which will fill Lankershim Boulevard (between Hesby Street and Magnolia Boulevard) with arts and crafts for kids, shopping at MAUM market, lion and dragon dance performances, Asian-owned food trucks and more.

Ring in the Lunar New Year in the heart of L.A.’s Chinese community at this annual two-day Monterey Park festival. This street fair takes over five blocks of downtown Monterey Park with folk art, delectable bites and a carnival zone. The action typically kicks off Saturday morning with traditional New Year dragon and lion dancers. Past fests have brought in over 100,000 people over, so plan ahead; the city suggests utilizing the free parking and shuttles at Mark Keppel High School (501 E Hellman Ave), Barnes Park (350 S McPherrin Ave), Ynez Elementary School (120 S Ynez Ave) and Repetto Elementary School (650 Grandridge Ave).

RECOMMENDED: Chinese New Year in Los Angeles

The shopping center welcomes the Year of the Snake in its Grand Court with a festive afternoon of lion dance performances, live beats, Chinese calligraphy and more. Snack on bites from Yardbird, AB Steak and Tangtastic, and pair with Chinese tea cocktails or a traditional tea service from Steep LA. In its own take on the holiday tradition, the mall is giving each guest a red envelope containing a Beverly Center gift card ranging from $10 to $500. Tickets are $30, but the center is donating and matching 100% of the proceeds from the event to support the LAFD Foundation.

This South Bay Lunar New Year celebration offers live entertainment, a wishing well, arts and crafts, food trucks and carnival-style snacks. The free, family-friendly event also boasts a petting zoo, where visitors can get close to roosters, sheep, goats and pigs—as well as a variety of live snakes and other reptiles, in honor of the Year of the Snake. Parking is free too; head to 22nd and Miner streets to park and catch a free ride to the event from the Downtown San Pedro Red Trolley. Note: The usually-outdoors event has been moved indoors to AltaSea (2451 Signal St, Berth 60, Door 39), due to a rainy forecast.

Celebrate the Year of the Snake with this free family day at the Japanese American National Museum, complete with crafts, games and cultural activities and performances. Kids can embark on a scavenger hunt, make snake-inspired crafts and origami, and enjoy interactive storytelling, while all ages can enjoy rice-pounding rituals and candy sculpture demonstrations. Museum admission is also free all day, so check out the “Giant Robot Biennale 5” exhibition before it closes Sunday evening.