Southern California is home to one of the largest and most diverse Asian communities in the United States, making the Lunar New Year a vibrant and widely celebrated tradition across the region. Observed by many cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and other Asian communities, the Lunar New Year marks a time of renewal, family, and hope for the year ahead.
What is the Lunar New Year?
Lunar New Year is a traditional holiday celebrated in many Asian cultures that marks the beginning of a new year based on the lunar calendar. It’s a time for family gatherings, cultural traditions, and welcoming good luck, health, and prosperity for the upcoming year.
Parades & Public Festivals
Golden Dragon Parade in Los Angeles Chinatown: A major cultural event with lion and dragon dances, music, traditional performances, and floats that draw large crowds from across Southern California.
Tết Festivals in Orange County & Santa Ana: With the largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans in the United States, this vibrant ocmmunity celebrates the Lunar New Year, known in Vietnames as Tết, with a parade along the heart of Little Saigon with lion and dragon dancers, food, and family-friendly activities.
San Gabriel Valley Lunar New Year Celebrations: Cities like Monterey Park, Alhambra, and Rowland Heights host cultural parades, performances, and community fairs featuring traditional music, dance troupes, lion dances, and more.
Family Gatherings and Traditional Foods
Family gatherings remain central to Lunar New Year celebrations, with many families prioritizing time together as a way to welcome the year ahead. Homes are often filled with extended relatives gathering for reunion dinners that emphasize unity, gratitude, and renewal. These meals traditionally feature symbolic dishes believed to bring prosperity, longevity, and good fortune, including dumplings, long noodles, rice cakes, and whole fish.
Beyond the food, these gatherings provide an opportunity to honor elders and strengthen family bonds that carry special meaning during the holiday. But most importantly, it provides an opportunity to pass down cultural traditions like elders passing along traditional red envelopes to children as a gesture of goodwill, reinforcing social bonds and conveying respect and care.
2026: The Year of the Horse
2026 marks the Year of the Horse, symbolizing strength, perseverance, and momentum, values at the core of Dordick Law’s advocacy. With offices in Downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Riverside, we proudly serve communities throughout Southern California. If you or a loved one needs legal guidance, we invite you to contact us by clicking here or calling us toll-free at (310) 551-0949.
Happy Lunar New Year from Dordick Law Corporation.
