EVENT: UC Irvine will honor a decade of tradition and celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year – heralding the Year of the Snake – with cultural games, hands-on arts and crafts, food, musical and dance performances, a dragon parade, a lion dance, and more.

WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, with activities and performances beginning in the UC Irvine Student Center’s Pacific Ballroom ABC (bldg. 113, grid D5 on campus map: https://web.communications.uci.edu/assets/email/dfa-tds/TDS-Website/maps/Main_UCIrvine-Map.pdf). The Lunar New Year Festival will start at 3:30 p.m. across the street (Pereira Drive) at the Irvine Barclay Theatre (bldg. 1, grid D5 on campus map).

INFORMATION: Media planning to attend should contact Cara Capuano at 949-501-9192 or ccapuano@uci.edu. Attendance is free and open to the public. Guest parking is available in the Student Center Parking Structure, located near the intersection of Pereira Drive and West Peltason Drive, using Park by Plate. Parking is complimentary for media who RSVP in advance. For more event info, see https://www.socsci.uci.edu/files/announcements/250121_lny/2025_ga.html.

HIGHLIGHTS:

9 a.m.-2 p.m. – Cultural activities and performances

UC Irvine Student Center, Pacific Ballroom ABC

UC Irvine’s Department of East Asian Studies will host such activities as origami, Chinese arts and crafts, traditional attire try-ons, and games from South Korea and Japan. Performances include the Southern Wind Lion Dance and presentations by UC Irvine student groups celebrating the rich diversity of East Asian cultures.

3:30-6 p.m.* – Lunar New Year Festival

Irvine Barclay Theatre

*The dragon dance begins at 3:30 p.m., followed by the feeding of the lions at 3:45 p.m.

UC Irvine’s Lunar New Year Festival creates an atmosphere of pure enchantment in which captivating performances and cherished traditions come alive – from the enthralling dragon dance and the feeding of the lions to the beloved wishing tree; dynamic rhythms of Hansori at UCI, the Hikari Taiko drummers and the KKAP UCI dance team; and delicious food from local vendors. There will be welcoming remarks by Bill Maurer, dean of the School of Social Sciences.

BACKGROUND: UC Irvine’s Lunar New Year celebration is made possible through the generous support of the UCI Long U.S.-China Institute and its partners – the School of Social Sciences, the School of Law and The Paul Merage School of Business – in concert with the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, the School of Humanities, the School of Social Ecology, UCI Libraries, the Center for Critical Korean Studies, the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Department of East Asian Studies and the Office of Vice Chancellor Brian Hervey. Additional key sponsors include South Coast Plaza, Charlie and Ling Zhang, the Long Family Foundation, and Eugene and Carol Choi.

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