Santa Monica Place will kick-off a six-day celebration of the Chinese New Year that marks the Year of the Horse this Friday, Jan. 31.
Also known as the Spring Festival, the celebration will feature entertainment and presentations based on authentic Chinese traditions including:
— The Traditional Chinese Dragon Dance that will feature 17 performers accompanied by traditional drums.
— Live music entertainment by a Chinese classical musical ensemble using native instruments such as the dizi (bamboo flute), yangqin (butterfly harp) and guzheng (long zither).
— Chinese Ribbon Dancers performing traditional dances that have been performed for more than 1,000 years.
— Chinese Stilt Walkers dressed in genuine decorative costumes engaging with guests.
— A New Year’s Wish Tree provides guests an opportunity to write their New Year wishes on a card to be placed in a red envelope then hung on the branches of the tree.
— A Chinese Henna Tattoo artist will paint beautiful, popular Chinese symbols such as love, luck, joy, strength, lion, dragon, etc. All designs will be completed freehand.
— Chinese Children Crafts where children will be able to create and decorate a paper dragon or lantern.
— The Chinese Dough Art an artist molds human and animal figures from clay or glutinous rice flour (a very popular folk art in both urban and rural areas of China).
— Complimentary Fortune Cookies distributed by participating center retailers.
— A Festive Chinese Photo Backdrop will be available for guests to capture the magic of the Chinese New Year Festival.
In addition, the Chinese New Year celebration will have Food Tastings by Santa Monica Place restaurants and Mandarin-speaking greeters.
The Chinese New Year Festival is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.santamonicaplace.com.