NBC Bay Area hosted their annual Lunar New Year celebration in Santana Row this Saturday, featuring performances from multiple groups around the Bay Area.
People gathered around a stage in front of Dumpling Time to watch nine different groups celebrate good fortune into the new year from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Performance group Lion Dance Me began the event with a traditional Chinese lion dance, with multiple people making up two lions.
Daniel Arce, a fourth-year student from University of California, Davis and lion tail on a high bench on stage, said he thought he did really well during the show.
“I haven’t done a high bench in a while, but since I’ve done it so many times throughout the years, I could just do it with little to no practice,” Arce said. “I think that’s very valuable in this type of situation where we have so many shows that we have to do.”
Lion dances consist of a team of two people, the head and tail players, who move at rhythm with the music being played, according to the New York Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club.
High bench is simply when the lion dances on a bench set on stage, doing the same dance movements it would usually do on the ground.
After Lion Dance and Me performed, NBC News Anchor Gia Vang introduced herself on stage as the host of the celebration and appeared after every performance, introducing each group as they entered the stage.
Vang introduced District 1 San José City Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, who spoke on the importance of cultural representation.
Ensuring multiple groups of cultural backgrounds are accurately represented is necessary, as San José is considered the most diverse city among the 100 largest metros of the United States, with 31% of the population being Asian, according to the Visit San José website.
Other performances were done by Lisa Performing Arts, International Performing Arts of America, Concord Kung Fu and Fremont Chinese School.
Jocelyn Cervantes, the AWAY store manager, a shop near the stage in Santana Row, said she prepared for heavy foot traffic near the store.
“Where we’re at, we get a pretty good view of everything, especially the performers because they usually go on that big stage,” Cervantes said.
Cervantes said the event organizers planned discounts and promotions for audience members with stores in Santana Row.
Red envelopes filled with gifts and coupons were distributed inside the Sugarfina shop during the celebration.
Envelopes contained varied discounts from stores such as Optical Illusions, Dumpling Time and more. There were also dining and shopping specials around Santana Row during the show.
Traditionally, red envelopes are gifted during Lunar New Year as symbols of luck and happiness, according to the History website.
The Santana Row event envelopes utilized a gold design of a horse, in commemoration of the year of the horse.
The rest of the celebration featured Alliana Lili Yang, Stanford Taiko, Uzumaru and Stanford O-Tone Acapella.
Yuanhao Zou, a third-year graduate student at Stanford and a Stanford O-Tone Acapella performer, said the group had been practicing for two weeks.
“It’s just very nice to have fun with a group of people. It’s good when you are in an acapella group and you look into each other’s eyes and you realize we are both having fun and we’re just chilling on stage,” Zou said.
Despite the celebration ringing in a hearty crowd, people protesting United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement also chanted next to the celebratory crowds surrounding the stage.
Group members of the Bay Area chapter of Strike for Our Rights held signs regarding the killing of Renée Nicole Good and the negative implications of Tesla.
Protesters handed out fliers advocating for viewers to join mass resistance campaigns while making multiple laps around the plaza.
Asian communities remain deeply impacted by current ICE policies, as 96% of Asians arrested were placed in detention centers under the Trump administration, while the majority don’t have a criminal record, according to a research brief by UCLA Asian American Studies Center.
Despite the protest, each group showcased a different aspect of what Lunar New Year means.
The entire celebration was successful in maintaining a full crowd during the two-hour duration, as many groups demonstrated various interpretations of Lunar New Year.
Aidan Sullivan, a third-year student at Stanford and part of the O-Tone Acapella group, said he got excited at how many people were gathered to see all the performances.
“It’s a very celebratory moment for Chinese culture and the communities that celebrate Lunar New Year,” Sullivan said. “I’m not Chinese by ethnicity myself, but I just want people to take away the notion that people from all different backgrounds can come together.”
