Lunar New Year, the start of a new year on the lunisolar calendar, which follows the moon’s synodic orbit and is significant to China and widely celebrated throughout other Asian cultures
To celebrate, the streets of downtown Riverside shined with red and gold, savory aromas and live performances to celebrate the occasion on Jan. 24.
This year marked Riverside County’s 14th Annual Lunar Festival hosted by California Culture Festival, an organization that has hosted multiple events around southern California, such as cities like Rancho Cucamonga.
CCF has worked with the city of Riverside for the past six years to enhance the experience of the Lunar Festival.
Event organizers say this year’s celebration marked the Year of the Horse. It is believed that the horse symbolizes strength, confidence and forward movement.
Jessica Gomez, operations director for CCF said regarding the event that,“Our goal is just to bring culture to downtown Riverside since it is based around art and culture, so we like to embrace that with our events.”
With that goal in mind, CCF opened the festival with a ceremonial Lunar New Year dragon dance called the “wu long.” This dance is significant to Chinese culture by symbolizing wealth, fortune and good luck.
Lunar New Year themed vendors lined the streets of the downtown selling items like “chunlian,” a traditional Chinese New Years banner and jewelry. As well as food vendors selling xio long bao and dumplings, dishes that are cultural to China.
To celebrate the year of the horse, pony rides were also offered amongst the many activities to participate in.
Many in attendance came dressed in cultural outfits to match the occasion as well. Leia Avila wore a Chinese dress called a “qipao” in the colors gold and red that symbolize good fortune for the new year.
“My family really wants to bring out my Asian heritage…so whenever there’s things like this, especially within the community,” said Avila. “They really want me to feel connected to my culture. I think it’s really sweet.”
The lunar festival brings the community together of all heritage.
“California is a melting pot of a whole bunch of different cultures,”Avila added.“It’s not everyday in Riverside where you see a lot of Asian culture.”
Cultures all around enjoyed the festivities of the new year.
Attendee Ernelyn Navarro shared that, “although I’m Filipino and it’s not really celebrated, my husband is Chinese from Hong Kong so every year we celebrate Lunar New year.”
This event lasted all weekend long from Jan. 24-25, where Riverside residents can support the Lunar New Year or feel a sense of their culture in their own community.
