The Ah Louis Store will celebrate the store’s 150 year anniversary and Lunar New Year with a Lunar New Year Palm Street Block Party free for everyone to attend on Saturday, according to a recent news release.
According to the news release, the celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the night will end with San Luis Obispo’s first-ever drone light show at 6:30 p.m. The event will include several activities, educational booths, performances and local food vendors.
Various groups from Cal Poly and the SLO community including the Cal Poly Chinese Students’ Association, the Japanese Student Association of Cal Poly, the Central Coast Chinese Association and the History Center of San Luis Obispo County will have booths with activities and information about Lunar New Year, according to the SLO Historic Chinatown website.
There will also be multiple performances throughout the day featuring groups such as GenKey and the Cal Poly Lion Dance Team.
The Cal Poly Lion Dance Team has a busy day on Saturday with a rehearsal and three performances throughout San Luis Obispo, but co-captain Audrey Tran said she’s happy to celebrate with the community.
“It’s an honor to educate people about lion dance and the culture,” Tran said.
A full schedule of events and performances that will take place during the block party can be found on the San Luis Obispo Historic Chinatown website.
Palm Street will be partially closed in front of the store for the event, but the Palm Street parking garage will remain open, according to the news release.
According to Amber Karson, the event organizer and co-owner of the Ah Louis Store, there used to be big celebrations of Lunar New Year in San Luis Obispo’s historic Chinatown, but there haven’t really been any big celebrations like this in recent years.
Karson said she’s excited to put on this celebration this year.
“It’s been a dream of mine to bring that [tradition] back to life,” she said.
For Karson, this Lunar New Year block party is about honoring, “our past and the significance of Asian American people in our community.”
Several other businesses downtown are celebrating the Lunar New Year with special events and deals throughout February, according to the historic Chinatown website.
More information about the Lunar New Year celebration and the Ah Louis Store can be found on the website as well.