How Sacramento is celebrating Lunar New Year with online events this year

Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year, is usually a day to be celebrated as loudly and colorfully and with as many people as possible. It’s a holiday that’s usually greeted in Sacramento with lion dances, fireworks and song-and-dance performances.

“We’d like to have (Lunar New Year) virtually to comfort, to encourage and to connect all our community,” said Debbie Wang, president of the Chinese New Year Cultural Association, which usually holds one of the largest celebrations in Sacramento each year. “Maybe the result is not like the real one on stage … but people are still looking forward to it.”

It’s a holiday observed by many Asian cultures, not just the Chinese. Many of the traditions are highly similar, such as spending time with family, wearing new or red clothes and giving out envelopes of money, but not every community celebrates it as seriously in America. And for countries like Korea, the decision to celebrate is a political one as much as a cultural or traditional one.

This year, many Sacramento community organizations have had to adapt their plans to a more pandemic-safe model, or shift entirely online.

How is Sacramento celebrating this year?

With large gatherings out of the question this year, many community organizations in Sacramento are turning to Zoom and finding creative solutions to maintain the spirit of welcoming a new year. The Chinese New Year Culture Association usually throws a massive bash at the Hiram Johnson High School Theater, where they invite dozens of food vendors, cultural education booths, activities for kids and hours of performances such as dragon dances and Chinese songs.

This year, CNYCA is going online, with an historic celebration planned instead that will pull videos and photographs from the last 23 years of CNYCA celebrations. There will also be special video messages from local politicians such as Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, state Treasurer Fiona Ma and state Sen. Richard Pan.

Shawn Wei, husband to CNYCA president Debbie Wang and video editor for the volunteer-driven organization’s online event, has been whittling away at hundreds of clips over the past few weeks. But it’s still nothing compared to the six months that normally go into planning their Lunar New Year event, Wang said.

They’re optimistic about the online format — all the hours of editing will be worth it, Wei said, allowing them to create a celebratory event that can be easily spread to hundreds of people with less technical difficulties.

“I’m excited. I have lots, hundreds of video clips,” Wei said. “I’ve gone through almost every year’s content now. … I think the final event could be better, easier.”

The Sacramento IndoChina Friendship Association, which last year threw a massive street bash, complete with confetti and lion dances, pared down the celebrations this year to do a food drive instead on Jan. 29, distributing enough rice, pork legs, wafers and croissants to feed 300 families.

“I have the parents and the kids in mind,” said SCIFA president Linda Lui. “Chinese New Year, (if) they don’t have food on the table, that’s pretty sad.”

SCIFA also operates a Buddhist temple on Elder Creek Road, which plans to open the weekend of Lunar New Year to allow residents to pray and pay their respects to any deceased family members, Lui said. One of the biggest struggles elderly Asian folks have expressed to her during the pandemic is their inability to gather with friends and say prayers. That’s especially painful for Lunar New Year, she said.

“They (would be) there two to three hours gathering with friends they don’t get to see often,” Lui said. “But now this whole year, they weren’t able to go out there.”

According to Stephanie Nguyen, executive director of Asian Resources Inc., ARI will combine a Lunar New Year celebration with a cultural lesson through a drive-through showcase on Feb. 11 from 3 to 6 p.m. The event will take place outside ARI’s headquarters on Elder Creek Road and will educate attendees about Vietnamese, Chinese, Iu-Mien and Korean traditions. Kids will also receive gifts in line with each community’s traditions, such as snacks and red envelopes.

And to celebrate Tết, the owners of Pho Bac Hoa Viet on Stockton Boulevard will light firecrackers outside their restaurant at 4 p.m. Friday.

“According to tradition, firecrackers noise on New Year ... will drive away evils and protect families from bad lucks for the whole year. Well, there is no bigger evil than Covid-19 last year and we need to chase them away,” Pho Bac Hoa Viet owner Huan Pham told The Bee in an email.

Ultimately, organizers said, the point of celebrating Lunar New Year is about more than just lighting fireworks and watching dragon dances. It’s also about simply having a chance to connect with each other and remind Sacramentans that having a community to rely on does not disappear simply because we can no longer gather in the hundreds.

“We let them know who we are, what we’re doing,” Wang said. “We want the whole community to know we are not alone. We are together.”

This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.