Many people gathered at Mission Plaza in downtown San Luis Obispo on Feb. 19 to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year with music, vendors and performers. It is the first time in 60 years for the Lunar New Year to see the arrival of the fire horse from the Chinese zodiac. It is also the first year that the SLO Lunar New Year celebrations were organized by the City of San Luis Obispo at Mission Plaza. The celebrations originally took place on Palm Street and were put on by the Ah Louis Store.

“We’ve had some partners that have put it on in the past, but this year it kind of fell to us,” said Samanatha Vethavanam, the City of San Luis Obispo’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion admin specialist.

Vethavanam said it is important to celebrate different cultures, where people can come together, connect, and try new things. 

“It is really important to SLO specifically because we have such a rich history, especially of Chinese folks coming in,” Vethavanum said. “So we really want to make sure we’re honoring that culture, that legacy, that kind of helped build SLO.” 

Gallery • 8 Photos

Steph Marroquin

Sichuan Kitchen SLO is one of the many vendors at the SLO Lunar New Year celebrations on Feb. 19. Garrett Morris owns the business with his wife, Coco. This is the third year Sichuan Kitchen SLO has participated in the celebrations. On Feb. 19, they were serving savory sticky rice, chicken wantons, a sticky rice dumpling and other foods. “It’s just really great to see the community really stoked about Chinese and Asian culture in general,” Morris said. “That’s kind of what we do as our business is: share the culture through food.”