With the Year of the Snake beginning Wednesday, Jan. 29, schools across Orange County are celebrating Lunar New Year with performances, cultural activities and traditional events.
Lunar New Year, also known as the spring festival, follows the lunar calendar and begins with the first new moon of the year. The holiday can last up to 16 days and is often marked by family gatherings, traditional foods and symbolic traditions. The Year of the Snake is associated with wisdom and transformation.
Roosevelt Elementary in the Anaheim Elementary School District hosted a celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 28, featuring a performance by kindergartners in the Mandarin Dual Language Immersion program, a traditional lion dance and red envelopes for students — a symbol of good luck in many new year traditions.
Good Day LA reporter Koco McAboy visited the campus to cover the event for Fox 11 Los Angeles, providing viewers with a look at how the school recognizes the holiday and its cultural significance. The celebration introduced students to customs observed in East and Southeast Asian countries, including China, Vietnam and Korea.
In the Ocean View School District, students also took part in the festivities. Members of Westminster High School’s Vietnamese Culture Club visited Oak View Elementary to perform traditional dances and discuss Vietnamese New Year, or Tết. The group later visited Star View Elementary, where students learned about Tết customs and watched a performance featuring drumming, dancing and a lion dance.
To highlight how schools are celebrating Lunar New Year, the OCDE Newsroom has compiled a collection of social media posts from local districts and school sites.