Where to celebrate Chinese New Year in Los Angeles

Ring in the Lunar New Year in the real 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 kicks off Saturday morning with firecrackers and dragon and lion dances.

Mark the Lunar New Year without leaving the Westside for this annual Beverly Hills bash. This year’s celebration features a variety show, a “Jing-Jin-Ji” photo exhibition and a cultural heritage crafts display.

Both the Grove and the Americana at Brand observe Chinese New Year with the type of polished, curated displays that you’ve come to expect from the L.A. shopping meccas. You’ll find a similar mix of sculptures and oversized lanterns at either location, but each has its own unique events: The Americana hosts dragon and lion dances, as well as a K-pop dance ensemble (Jan 27), while the Grove welcomes an afternoon of festivities with the Original Farmers Market (Feb 2).

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, plus art activities, food trucks and a “musical petting zoo.”

Santa Monica Place toasts to the Chinese New Year with performances and activities. Comedian Paul “PK” Kim hosts an afternoon that includes a Chinese lion dance, Korean fan dance, stilt walkers, traditional dough artist, balloon twister, classical folk music from a Chinese musical duo, New Year’s Wishing Trees, crafts and K-pop dance group, First Bite.

What better place to celebrate the Lunar New Year than the Huntington Library’s beautiful Chinese gardens? Usher in the Year of the Pig with lion dancers, mask-changing performances, martial arts demonstrations, Chinese music and more.

Find festive red and gold lanterns, twinkling lights and a 17-foot Chinese pagoda at the Citadel Outlets for four weeks during January and February. On February 3, the shopping center will host a celebration that typically includes Chinese dragon dances, folk dances and traditional songs and drum ceremonies. 

Chinatown welcomes New Year with a midnight ceremony at the Thien Hau Temple. Crowds begin to gather on the eve of the Chinese New Year to make offerings to the deities, awaken the spirits with firecrackers and burn incense for good fortune. Join lion dancers and monks starting at 10pm, and feel free to return to the temple throughout the week.

All aboard the Queen Mary for a Chinese New Year celebration with lion and dragon dancing, acrobatics, a guzheng ensemble and more. The entertainment follows a seated dinner feast in the Queen’s Salon.

Join in one of L.A.’s oldest traditions at the 120th (count them—120!) annual Chinese New Year parade and festival in Downtown’s Chinatown. The Chinatown Central Plaza celebration brings multi-stage acts from kung fu demos to traditional music acts. The main attraction is the yearly Golden Dragon Parade, which makes its route (kicking off at Hill and Ord Streets, and concluding at Broadway and Cesar Chavez) on Saturday from 1 to 3pm.