PASADENA — Pacific Asia Museum will hold its third annual Lunar New Year Festival on Saturday, Feb. 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. celebrating Year of the Snake.
Admission to the events, performances, crafts, demonstrations, and museum galleries is free and open to the public.
For the third year in a row, the museum invites the community to a pan-Asian celebration of Lunar New Year, a holiday celebrated by many cultures across Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Inside the parking lot, which will be tented for the event, watch multicultural performances on stage, including lion dance; grab a snack at food trucks Mighty Boba, India Jones, Mandoline Grill and Paradise Cookies; and interact with visiting artists from Jiangsu, China, who will demonstrate a variety of traditional art forms, including paper-cutting, lantern-making, sugar art, cloth art, Chinese knotting and Suzhou silk art.
Taiko Center of Los Angeles will perform at 11:30 a.m. and USA Sumo will conduct a demonstration at 1 p.m.
Also featured will be the renowned Xiao Hong Hua (Little Red Flower) children’s dance group from Nanjing. The museum will reprise 2012’s successful cultural week featuring Xiao Hong Hua and other visiting artists from China in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China. On Thursday and Friday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, the artists will give workshops to school and community groups. Select workshops will be open to the general public with reservations, and a full schedule will be posted to www.pacificasiamuseum.org when it becomes available.
Pacific Asia Museum is among the few institutions in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the arts and culture of Asia and the Pacific Islands. Its mission is to further intercultural understanding through the arts. Since 1971, the museum has served a broad audience of students, families, adults, and scholars through its education and outreach programs.
Located at 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $9 general, $7 students/seniors, and free for museum members and children under 12. Admission is free every fourth Friday of the month. For more information visit the website or call (626) 449-2742.