Oakland
Red and Gold: Dragons Prevail
by | Feb 15, 2024 12:00 pm
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Posted to: Festival
Lunar New Year attendees watch a traditional dragon dance at the Chinese New Year festival in Jack London Square.
Lunar New Year Celebrations
Jack London Square
Oakland
Feb. 10, 2024
The Bay Area had a lot to celebrate this past weekend, so one was hard-pressed to decide what should take precedence. Super Bowl parties cheering on the Niners? Lunar New Year celebrations with fireworks and lion dancing? Or a combination of the two? You couldn’t throw a rock and not find crowds getting ready for some kind of party clad in red and gold, the attire for either the big game or the lunar new year.
With the rain gone and sun finally shining bright, I headed for Jack London Square anticipating a somewhat subdued party for Chinese New Year. But I’d forgotten how much kids love dragons.
Dancers perform at the Lunar New Year festival in Jack London Square.
The 12-year cycle for the Chinese zodiac is celebrating the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious animal in the calendar. The dragon is known as the fiercest of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac. Hundreds of attendees, many with families and young kids, thronged the courtyard at Jack London Square, encircling the main area, with traditional performances of dancing, dragons, and Chinese sword fighting. Being very short, I followed the example of intrepid attendees and grabbed a chair from the public dining area nearby to try to catch sight of the performances.
The affable emcee, a woman dressed in a flowing red robe, rattled off the lore of legend and history behind the Lunar New Year. The year of the dragon being one of the most celebrated of all the animals, Chinese traditionally plan for births, weddings, and other milestones. She rattled off an impressive list of celebrities born during the year of the dragon — Adele, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rihanna, Michelle Obama — and noted that those born during this year tend to be ambitious, confident, and charismatic. Whereas lions can fight evil in Chinese legend, dragons are the masters of the sky, with strength to spare and a commanding presence.
A traditional dragon dance at the Lunar New Year festival in Jack London Square.
Attendees seemed rapt by the afternoon’s performances, oohing and aahing at local dance troupes demonstrating traditional fan dances. The older performers showed off their sword skills, but also showcased the humanness of their bodies.
One older man flung his sword, slicing through the air in a strenuous maneuver, then grabbed his back, wincing in pain. The emcee acknowledged that, while the volunteer performers were very skilled, they also happened to be pretty old.
The piėce de resistance, of course, was the traditional dragon dance. With two sets of dancers writhing under dragon costumes in red and gold, it was meant to ward away any evil that might beset those in the new year. Red and gold are traditionally worn during the lunar new year, symbolizing wealth and prosperity. This dance, though symbolically meaningful, also exuded fun and excitement. Kids laughed, families cheered, and people milled about the square, taking selfies and breathing in the party atmosphere.
The afternoon proved more far more celebratory than the Super Bowl loss the Niners suffered the next day. But if you heard fireworks, know that there was another kind of red and gold being celebrated this weekend too.
Oakland's annual Lunar New Year festival took place in Jack London Square.
