Best Lunar New Year Festivals in SoCal

Gong xi fa cai! KCM Agency has been doing Lunar New Year festivals and events since our company started, and despite it being one of our busiest seasons, the road to Lunar New Year is always one of our favorites! While each family has their own traditions during LNY, lots of people still come out to celebrate: there's plenty of amazing food, live music, cultural performances, and of course the favorite dragon and lion dances. Check out the biggest LNY events happening all over SoCal and get some of that new year luck!

The Asian American Expo in Orange County has been around for over 30 years. It's tagged as the largest Asian trade show in the US with "1,000+ vendors, 8 non-stop performing stages, and 3 separately unique food courts". That is, on top of the trade show style exhibition of Asian goods and service companies, the Expo has also evolved into a Lunar New Year celebration with entertainment, cultural performances, and delicious food. This year also featured two events along side the AAExpo: street fashion sample sale event The Silk Show and new anime and videogame convention Anime Impulse. Usually held earlier than most Lunar New Year celebrations, the Expo is a good event to start off a lucky new year.

Tet is the Vietnamese holiday equivalent for the Lunar New Year. With a large Vietnamese American population in Orange County, CA, the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (UVSA) hosts the Tết Festival in the OC, and has been doing so for more than 30 years running. Not only is it recognized as "the world's largest Vietnamese New Year Festival," it is also run by student volunteers, with 50% of all profits given back to the community. The Festival also holds The Miss Vietnam of Southern California (MVSC) or Hoa Khôi Liên Trường (HKLT) annual pageant, and a variety of interesting activities. What We're Excited About: Pho Eating Contest!!

"If you don't come for the new year, come for the food! If you don't come for the food, come for the performances!" With a 250,000 strong number of attendees every year, the Lunar New Year Festival in Monterey Park is one of the biggest in San Gabriel Valley. The festival is presented by City of Monterey Park, the Monterey Park Downtown Business Improvement District Advisory Committee, and World Journal LA. Since 2012, the festival will extend to seven blocks this year! What We Love: Their website! Clean, functional, and with a cute fun facts section for beginners in Lunar New Year culture.

As one of the younger festivals in the area, the San Gabriel Lunar New Year Festival wants to combine the traditional and the modern to create an event that anyone can enjoy. Presented by the City of San Gabriel, the festival takes place at the historic San Gabriel Mission District and features a 30' outdoor stage with live performances, Street Food Fair, and Craft Beer Garden, among others. What We're Excited About: The Kinjaz Dojo Annual Dance Tournament will be held during the festival! P.S. SGLNY is one of our favorites (hint: our Events team works so hard on it every year!).