{"id":106923,"date":"2025-12-23T22:41:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/106923\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T22:41:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:41:55","slug":"8-ways-to-celebrate-in-2025-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/106923\/","title":{"rendered":"8 ways to celebrate in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Christmas comes Kwanzaa. The holiday, which runs Dec. 26-Jan. 1 each year, was created by activist Maulana Karenga and first celebrated in 1966 following the Watts uprising<\/a> in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The African American holiday draws on traditions from harvest festivals in West, East and Southeast Africa and dedicates each day of the weeklong celebration to a different concept: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.<\/p>\n

Here are a few events around the Bay Area scheduled to celebrate it, from family-friendly storytime sessions to panel discussions on Black identity.<\/p>\n

Kwanzaa Storytime: 4-5 p.m. Dec. 16, Newark Library, 37055 Newark Blvd., Newark. Oakland author and illustrator Robert Liu-Trujillo will read his book \u201cFresh Juice,\u201d about a child and father searching for healthy juice ingredients, then share his sketchbook and talk about his journey as a writer and artist. Free. aclibrary.bibliocommons.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Kwanzaa Celebration: Noon-1 p.m. Dec. 27, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. Music, remarks from local dignitaries and a candle-lighting are scheduled at this community event. Free. santacruzmah.org\/events\/kwanzaa-2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Conversation on Black Liberation: 1:30 p.m. Dec. 27, Kinfolx, 1951 Telegraph Ave., Suite 4, Oakland. Hear from an intergenerational panel discussion with Rev. Robert Newells-Newton, Rev. Valerie Miles-Tribble and possibly Chaney Turner and Oakland Councilmember Carroll Fife while reflecting on the intersection of faith, politics and Black identity. kinfolxoakland.com\/event-schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

Kujichagulia Celebration: 3:30-7 p.m. Dec. 27, Oakstop, 2323 Broadway, Oakland. Celebrate the second day of Kwanzaa with a celebration of Kujichagulia (self-determination), featuring African drumming and a dance performance, griot storytelling, a Kwanzaa candle-lighting ceremony and a community dinner. There will also be face-painting, balloons and temporary skin art. African attire encouraged. eventbrite.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hayward Kwanzaa Celebration: Noon-5 p.m. Dec. 28, Hayward City Hall, 777 B St., Hayward. Food, entertainment, storytelling and achievement awards are scheduled at the third annual Kwanzaa celebration by Fayeth Gardens. eventbrite.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Community Kwanzaa Celebration: Noon-2:30 p.m. Dec. 30, 395 Paseo Grande, San Lorenzo. Enjoy live music, food, book giveaways, painting and costume jewelry-making at this family-friendly community event at the San Lorenzo Library. aclibrary.bibliocommons.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebration of Purpose: 6-8 p.m. Dec. 30, African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St., San Francisco. Celebrate the fifth day of Kwanzaa featuring light bites, live performances and reflections on purpose, or Nia. eventbrite.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Winter Wonderland Kwanzaa & Noon Year\u2019s Eve Celebration: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dec. 31, Thrive City, San Francisco. The lineup includes Soji Sai Afrobeats, the Diamano Coura West African Dance Company, a countdown drop for noon, arts and craft stations, treats and more. Park at 99 Warriors Way. chasecenter.com\/events\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After Christmas comes Kwanzaa. The holiday, which runs Dec. 26-Jan. 1 each year, was created by activist Maulana…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[184,647,7,967,584,1040,13729,2646,181,971,143,145,144,420],"class_list":["post-106923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-bay-area","tag-books","tag-california","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-holiday","tag-holiday-events","tag-holidays","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lifestyle","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}