LUIS SOLIS | PHOTO EDITOR
Downtown Riverside was transform into a cultural experience known as the Asian Lunar New Year Festival on Jan. 25.
The Lunar New Year is based on the Lunisolar Chinese calendar in many Asian cultures dates are indicated by both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. It begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day. Chinese New Year is the longest and important festival celebrated.
This was the fourth year that the Asian Pacific Culture Association (APCA) hosted the festival in Downtown Riverside.
The APCA’s goal was to educate attendees on the tremendous contributions to the history of Riverside and the region by Asian Americans.
The festival featured traditional Asian music that was play throughout the whole festival along with other performances such as the taiko drums, traditional dances and martial arts display such as karate and sumo wrestling.
The Lunar Festival gave the attendees a chance to experience authentic Asian market goods and traditional food like Takoyaki, a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and Octopus.
The lunar celebration concluded with a firework display. The reason behind the fireworks is to scare away any evil spirits and welcome the Lunar Year filled with luck and prosperity.
Admin • Mar 9, 2014 at 2:54 pm
Good to see even more shots here than ran in Viewpoints. So much color, Luis!