Free Oshogatsu Family Fest Fêtes the New Year

Spend an activity-packed day at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

What to Know

  • Sunday, Jan. 6
  • Japanese American National Museum
  • 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you were to say that there's a pig year ahead, well, no one would dare raise a snort or a grunt or twirl a curly tail over your proclamation.

For the Year of The Boar is on its auspicious, forward-looking way, and while most Lunar New Year parades and parties are still a few weeks out, as 2019 begins, you can find your pig, er, big celebration at the Japanese American National Museum.

How big will the Oshogatsu Family Festival, a yearly happening at the Little Tokyo destination, be?

Let's start first with one of the biggest headlines dancing around the Sunday, Jan. 6 festivity: It's free, which is a word that feels incredibly auspicious and lucky and lovely, and few would quibble with that.

Also big?

The roster of things to do, watch, jump into, and enjoy. You can visit Ruthie's Origami Corner to fold a paper boar, snap a pic in the NerdBot Photo Booth, join a scavenger hunt, observe a rice-pounding demonstration, and take part in a number of other events.

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Are they "boar"-ing events?

They won't be boring, but they will have the strong and sweet spirit of the boar to them, a wonderful thing, indeed.

Don't forget to eat your lucky soba noodles, to start the new year in a fortune-filled way. And if you want to purchase fukubukoro, or lucky grab bags, you can find them in the museum store.

And, you bet: You'll want to don a pair of pig ears, via a headband, to show your boar-beautiful outlook for the months still to come.

Happy Year of the Boar!

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