Photo by Tsutsumida Pictures

Rainy weather wasn’t enough to put a damper on the recent Lunar New Year celebration event held at Irvine’s Cadence Park. Despite waking up to gloomy skies, hundreds still showed up to welcome in the Year of the Pig, and they were not disappointed.

“They really went all out for this event,” said one community resident, enjoying the celebration with her family. Indeed, guests were presented with a wide variety of activities to commemorate the occasion. With craft stations to make Lunar New Year ornaments and dragon puppets, story time on the lawn, zither musicians playing a broad mix of traditional music and covers of modern hits, and a rather impressive acrobatic lion dance performance, there was fun to be had for people of all ages. The event team even passed out traditional red envelopes to guests in true Lunar New Year fashion.

Photo by Tsutsumida Pictures

Of course, the most important element of the event was how successful it was at bringing people from all across the community and city together. Families from a wide variety of backgrounds were in attendance. For some, the Lunar New Year was a familiar celebration, but for many others, the event served as a wonderful and educational introduction to the holiday. For individuals and families from all backgrounds, the park provided the perfect site to bring together neighbors to get to know each other and become more involved in their community. For those who missed it, this annual event is a marvelous celebration to look forward to next year.

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