photo by mike watt
Today marks the start of Chinese New Year. Many Chinatown restaurants are offering specials, including Empress Pavilion (213.617.9898)Fortune Gourmet Kitchen (213.628.8188) Golden City (213.253.2660) Hop Woo BBQ & Seafood Restaurant (213.617.3038) JR Bistro (213.620.0838) and Ocean Seafood Restaurant (213.687.3088)
Things really start jumping this weekend with the 117th Golden Dragon Parade on Saturday, February 13th. The parade commences at Hill and Ord Streets at 1pm and concludes at Broadway and Cesar Chavez at 3pm. The Chinese New Year Festival will also be taking place Saturday at the Central Plaza Stage from 12pm-8pm.
Enjoy Arts & Craft Workshops teaching Calligraphy, Dough Sculpture, and Fruit & Vegetable Carving. Entertainment also includes a Roaming Magician, our favorite Capuchin Monkey, dragon and lion dancers, acrobatics, martial arts, Teapot Juggling, and I don’t know what Monkey King and Metal is, but you probably should not miss it. The LA Weekly will be sponsoring a Music Stage with bands like The Slightlys, Kid Bloom, and Jubilo Drive. Make sure to check out the Culinary Stage, where Eddie Lin and Felix Fang will once again be hosting cooking demos, handing out samples, and judging the always exciting eating contest.
Besides the fantastic Chinese restaurants and food booths, there will be food trucks on hand for the peckish, including Crepe N Around, Fluff Ice, Kogi Truck and The Lobos Truck. You can also enjoy the Craft Beer Garden. FREE to the public. The festival is easily accessed via Metro Gold Line rail from the Chinatown Station.
Street closures and full schedule after the break.
STREET CLOSURES
The following streets will be closed starting from 11:00am to 4:00pm
* Hill Street from Bernard Street to Temple Street
* Ord, Alpine, College, & Bernard Streets from North Broadway to North Hill Street
* North Broadway from Bernard Street to Cesar Chavez Avenue
* Cesar Chavez Avenue from North Broadway to Main Street
Artisans
– Arts & Craft Workshop(Monkey Headband & Lantern)
– Calligraphy Workshop by Nori Shirasu
– Calligraphy by George Guojin Cui
– Dough Sculptor by Chris Lee
– Fruit & Vegetable Carving by THAIS, Inc.
– Roaming Magician by Minh Tran (6pm-8pm)
– Story-telling by Barbara Wong (4:15pm & 5:15pm)
Capuchin Monkey & Trainer (5PM-8PM)
Central Plaza Main Stage Performance
12pm Traditional Southern Style Dragon and Lion Dance by East Wind Foundation For Youth
12:30pm Chinese Acrobatics (Mongolian Contortion, Foot Juggling, Rolla Bolla, Juggling)
1pm-3pm DARK (Parade)
3pm Connie Lim
3:45pm Traditional Southern Style Dragon and Lion Dance by East Wind Foundation For Youth
4pm Martial Arts by Shaolin Yanxu Gongfa School
4:30pm Chinese Acrobatics (Face Changing, Mongolian Contortion, Teapot Juggling, Foot Juggling, Rolla Bolla, Juggling)
5:15pm Performance by Larrisa Lam and Only Won
6pm Traditional Southern Style Dragon and Lion Dance by East Wind Foundation For Youth
6:15pm Martial Arts by Shaolin Yanxu Gongfa School
6:45pm Chinese Acrobatics (Face Changing, Mongolian Contortion, Teapot Juggling, Foot Juggling, Rolla Bolla, Juggling)
7:30pm Monkey King and Metal
TBA
LA Gourmet Food Truck
Crepe N Around
Fluff Ice (on Hill Street)
India Jones
Jogasaki
Kogi Truck
Okamoto Kitchen
The Lobos Truck
Tokyo Doggy Style
Vchos Truck
Yalla Truck
LA Weekly Live Music Stage
curated by Kevin Bronson of BuzzbandsLA.com
12 PM Nightair
12:50pm Jubilo Drive
1 PM – 3 PM DARK – PARADE
2:30 PM Molly Moore & Brandyn Burnette
3:30 PM The Slightlys
4:30 PM James Allen Spirit
5:30 PM Veronica Bianqui
6:30 PM Kid Bloom
7:30 PM Valley Queen Fan Princess (Opera Scene) with support from California Institute for Chinese Performing Arts
Vendors
Laquor
Leather E
MaeMae Jewelry
Sol De Cobre
