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Oakland design fair encourages participants to play

Frank Ogawa Plaza hosted Oakland’s first design fair on Super Bowl weekend. The organizers of the event, Our City, chose local artists to center their designs around the theme of play. The designs ranged from an outdoor living room installed with picture frames that allowed passersby to upload selfies; an adult-sized board of Mancala, a counting and strategy game; and an LED-lit basketball hoop. The fair also featured dance classes that caught the attention of Oaklanders clocking off from work…

Oakland residents feast on traditional Chinese New Year’s dishes

Being Chinese, one does not simply eat. Eating is a favorite cultural pastime, and has a process to it that is treated with such reverence that the Chinese say, “Dining comes before the Emperor does.” This respect for delectables escalates with the arrival of the Lunar New Year, which begins with the second new moon after the winter solstice. The holidays—much like a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas when families reunite—start when the moon is but a sliver in the…

Local boutique owner designs clothing with sustainable materials

Field Day and Friends is a local boutique that is part workshop, part brick and mortar store. Trinity Cross, owner and designer, creates her own patterns for women’s clothing using reused and sustainable fabrics. Cross searches for a variety of different fabrics, which means many of her designs are one-of-a kind.

Annual Lunar New Year Bazaar held in Oakland’s Chinatown

It was a rainy week, and people were itching to head outdoors by the time Saturday rolled around. Many found themselves drawn to the hubbub at the center of Oakland Chinatown, where the annual Lunar New Year Bazaar was held. Offered two weeks shy of Chinese New Year, the street fair is meant to usher in the popular holiday as Chinese American families began their preparations.

Oakland’s Mongolian School enrolls 100th student

Founded in April 2009, the Ger Youth Center is a non-profit organization based in Oakland dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional Mongolian visual and performing arts, culture and language among Bay Area Mongolian and Mongolian-American youth. Its flagship program, the Bi Mongol — or “I am Mongolian” — School operates out of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. The school offers biweekly classes in art, dancing, Mongolian language, chess, and more. The Ger Youth Center also coordinates a variety of cultural events open…