{"id":197049,"date":"2026-02-27T21:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197049\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T21:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:22:08","slug":"oakland-chinatown-lantern-festival-returns-with-night-market-vibes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197049\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland Chinatown Lantern Festival Returns With Night Market Vibes"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, March 1, Oakland\u2019s<\/a> Pacific Renaissance Plaza will be festooned with red paper lanterns, lucky New Year\u2019s scrolls and what event organizer Diana Wu describes as \u201cspring blooms vibes.\u201d The sound of taiko drums will echo through the streets of Chinatown. Hungry guests will feast on shrimp dumplings and hand-pulled noodles. Eventually, the whole plaza will erupt into an all-out dance party.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of the fourth annual Oakland Chinatown Lantern Festival<\/a>, which traditionally marks the end of each year\u2019s Lunar New Year festivities.<\/p>\n

Wu \u2014 the executive director of the kitchen incubator Oakland Bloom<\/a>, which co-organizes the event along with the nonprofit Sticky Rice Club<\/a> \u2014 explains that when the festival began in 2023, the idea was to bring Chinatown to life with the atmosphere of an Asian-style night market. At the time, the community was reeling in the aftermath of the pandemic shutdowns and a spate of anti-Asian violence.<\/p>\n

\"AA customer ordering from one of the food tents at last year\u2019s festival. (Amber Wang, courtesy of Oakland Bloom)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so that\u2019s something we\u2019ve continued \u2014 inviting the community out in the afternoon and evening, and then also inviting local businesses to stay open with us and really bring that vibrancy back to the neighborhood,\u201d Wu says.<\/p>\n

Like in past years<\/a>, the Lantern Festival celebration will be a multicultural, intergenerational affair. A variety of all-ages activities will include a scavenger hunt where participants are given photo hints for landmarks located all around the Pacific Renaissance Plaza. (Prizes will include vouchers for a mango piggy dessert from Peony<\/a>, the plaza\u2019s dim sum standard bearer.) There will be mahjong tables, storytelling tents and even acupuncture booths. Meanwhile, a host of artists and makers will have tables set up to sell their wares.<\/p>\n

\"OverheadLil Devil\u2019s beef noodle soup, one of the dishes featured at this year\u2019s Lantern Festival. (Courtesy of Lil Devil Noodle Company)
\n