{"id":178014,"date":"2026-02-14T14:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/178014\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T14:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:55:11","slug":"valley-fair-blooms-with-floral-lunar-new-year-display-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/178014\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley Fair blooms with floral Lunar New Year display \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fleurs de Villes Lunaire has returned to Westfield Valley Fair for another colorful, floral celebration of Lunar New Year.<\/p>\n

The free exhibition, which opened to the public Wednesday and runs through Feb. 17, showcases the talents of 15 Bay Area floral designers. Their flower and plant-based installations all include the same blank mannequin and represent different aspects of the celebration including Chinese opera and wedding gowns, dragon dances, the lunar cycle, fireworks, red envelopes and gold coins.<\/p>\n

At the center of the exhibition is a stunning monument to the Year of the Horse, created by the Bloomsters team led by owner and lead designer Kren Rasmussen. The Fire Horse is ridden by a female warrior, dressed in scale armor made out of layered succulents. The horse\u2019s body is covered with corn husks, the flames are made with dyed wheat stalks and the rider\u2019s dark boots are covered with chia seeds.<\/p>\n

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A floral and plant sculpture created by Bloomsters representing the Year of the Horse is the centerpiece of Fleurs de Villes Lunaire, a celebration of Lunar New Year that is on display at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center through Feb. 17, 2026. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"Shoppers<\/p>\n

Shoppers at Westfield Valley Fair look at floral and plant sculptures that are part of Fleurs de Villes Lunaire, a celebration of Lunar New Year that is on display at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center through Feb. 17, 2026. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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A floral and plant sculpture created by floral designers Flybunker representing fireworks is part of Fleurs de Villes Lunaire, a celebration of Lunar New Year that is on display at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center through Feb. 17, 2026. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Lunar Moon Cycle is represented by a floral and plant sculpture created by the Traveling Stem floral design team that is part of Fleurs de Villes Lunaire, a celebration of Lunar New Year that is on display at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center through Feb. 17, 2026. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"Shoppers<\/p>\n

Shoppers at Westfield Valley Fair look at a floral and plant sculpture created by Bloom Lin design representing Chinese weddings. It’s part of Fleurs de Villes Lunaire, a celebration of Lunar New Year that is on display at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center through Feb. 17, 2026. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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A floral and plant sculpture created by Bloomsters representing the Year of the Horse is the centerpiece of Fleurs de Villes Lunaire, a celebration of Lunar New Year that is on display at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center through Feb. 17, 2026. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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Visitors can vote for their favorite and be entered for a chance to win an overnight stay for two at the Rosewood Sand Hill \u2014\u00a0 also home to one of the installations \u2014 and a $200 Eataly gift card.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding on the incredible response to last year\u2019s debut, this fresh-floral celebration once again brings the spirit of Lunar New Year to life through the artistry of local florists,\u201d Karen Marshall, co-founder of Fleurs de Villes said. \u201cFlowers bring people together in joy, and we are thrilled to share that energy with Silicon Valley for another unforgettable season.\u201d<\/p>\n

TIMELY THEATER: With deportations and anti-ICE protests taking place nationwide, Teatro Visi\u00f3n has premiered a very topical new play, \u201cNo Llegamos Aqu\u00ed Solos,\u201d at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose.<\/p>\n

The play, which takes place in East San Jose, was written by Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Yosimar Reyes. It follows a young man, Ignacio, who is preparing for his grandmother\u2019s birthday party while simultaneously organizing his community to prepare for an ICE raid.<\/p>\n

Teatro Visi\u00f3n and Reyes worked together on a community story-gathering project to inform the play, adding to Reyes\u2019 familiarity with the Mayfair neighborhood where he grew up. The play \u2014 its title of the play translates to \u201cWe Did Not Come Here Alone\u201d \u2014 runs through Feb. 22. You can get tickets at www.teatrovision.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MOVING ON, MOVING IN: Jason Su is stepping down as executive director of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy after nearly seven years in the job. He started in June 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic made open space more important than ever, and navigated a lot of challenges dealing with park and trail maintenance, especially as homeless encampments became a regular feature in the sprawling park. He forged a partnership with SJ Walls to bring murals to blank walls and walkways along the Guadalupe River Trail and oversaw the expansion of the Rotary Playgarden.<\/p>\n

The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy board of directors has started a search for his replacement, with Operations Director Ash Namdar serving as acting executive director in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lincoln Law School of San Jose is officially welcoming its new dean, Mary Fuller, who took over the job last month. Fuller, who holds degrees in electrical engineering and law, was most recently director of the Western Regional Office of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which also is in downtown San Jose, about two blocks from Lincoln Law School.<\/p>\n

\u201cMary brings a rare combination of legal, technical, and public-service leadership experience,\u201d said Bill Long, chair of Lincoln Law School\u2019s board of trustees. \u201cHer commitment to education, collaboration, and thoughtful leadership aligns well with Lincoln Law School\u2019s mission, and we are pleased to welcome her as Dean.\u201d<\/p>\n

HONOR ROLL: Sunnyvale Community Services Executive Director Marie Bernard will receive the Murphy Award from the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 26 for her distinguished leadership and lasting contributions to the community.<\/p>\n

Christian Pellecchia, who chairs the Sunnyvale Chamber\u2019s board of directors, said the award reflects Bernard\u2019s lifetime of steady, purpose-driven leadership coupled with compassion and strategic vision to help those facing hunger, housing insecurity and financial hardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer longstanding civic engagement, including leadership alongside partners in the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, demonstrates a rare ability to bring together the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in pursuit of shared community wellbeing,\u201d Pellecchia said. \u201cThis honor celebrates not only professional excellence, but the enduring impact of integrity, collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to strengthening Sunnyvale for all who call it home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernard will be joined by other honorees \u2014 including El Camino Health\u2019s A.J. Reall, Jeff Weinberg of JW Catering, and nonprofit Animal Assisted Happiness \u2014 at the 59th annual Murphy Awards Dinner on Feb. 26 at the Hilton Garden Inn. Don\u2019t rush to grab a ticket, though, as the event is already sold out.<\/p>\n

GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN: I was sad to hear that Dick Henning died Feb. 4 at age 90, just a few months after he received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Henning was a man as full of life as just about anyone you could meet, and I can\u2019t recall seeing him without a smile on his face.<\/p>\n

Of course, he was best known around here for founding the Foothill College Celebrity Forum, a speaker series that he started at Foothill in 1968 and kept going at De Anza College until both the speaker series and the Flint Center, where it was held, was no more in 2020. Celebrity speakers included Indira Gandhi, James Baldwin, Cary Grant, Jane Goodall and Neil Armstrong.<\/p>\n

Henning was always busy but never seemed rushed. He was a longtime member of the Los Altos Rotary Club, served 12 years on the board of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce and went on multiple safaris in Africa. No doubt, he\u2019s already putting together another speaker series in the afterlife.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fleurs de Villes Lunaire has returned to Westfield Valley Fair for another colorful, floral celebration of Lunar New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[840,417,184,7,4978,181,23,419,88,90,89,197,198,200,203],"class_list":{"0":"post-178014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-alum-rock","9":"tag-around-town","10":"tag-bay-area","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-downtown-san-jose","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-local-news","15":"tag-news-columnists","16":"tag-san-jose","17":"tag-san-jose-headlines","18":"tag-san-jose-news","19":"tag-santa-clara","20":"tag-santa-clara-county","21":"tag-south-bay","22":"tag-sunnyvale"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178014","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=178014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}