Happy Lunar New Year from the USC US-China Institute!
Lantern Festival 2012
The Chinese American Museum will hold its annual Lantern Festival celebration. The festival offers Chinese New Year fanfare with free entertainment and interactive cultural activities.
Where
![](https://china.usc.edu/sites/default/files/styles/event_node_featured/public/events/featured-image/lantern2012-pic_0.jpg?itok=LhwE7rOs)
A signature event for CAM and now a beloved community tradition, CAM’s annual Lantern Festival celebration offers Chinese New Year fanfare with free entertainment and interactive cultural activities for people of diverse backgrounds and ages to enjoy.
Each year, Lantern Festival spotlights a Chinese American re-creation of a traditional village street fair featuring brilliant lantern displays, exciting musical, acrobatic and lion dance performances, enriching arts and crafts booths, and to cap off the evening, a spirited lantern parade where children and their families are welcome to march with dancers and musicians in a route encircling the entire park. Event-goers can try their hand at lantern-making, Chinese-opera style face painting, kite-building, Chinese paper-cutting, Origami, Chinese calligraphy, string-knotting, and much more! New program features are added to the event each year to keep the festival fresh and exciting for new and returning visitors.
A hugely popular holiday in the Chinese culture, Lantern Festival occurs annually on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to mark the closing of Chinese New Year festivities. As families wish for peace and prosperity for the coming year, colorful lanterns are hung in homes and throughout the streets to celebrate this jubilant occasion. CAM’s Lantern Festival series represents a departure from most other street event celebration because the primary focus is on education rather than just entertainment. The event’s program strives to present the visiting public with a unique and interactive opportunity to learn and appreciate the history, traditions and customs of this Chinese holiday.
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