How Two Friends Launched One of Austin’s Largest Lunar New Year Celebrations

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, anti-Asian sentiments ran rampant. Watercolor illustrator Kathy Phan and her friend Pei Sim, soon to open the Paper + Craft Pantry, were looking for a place for their friends to connect and combat the hateful and increasingly violent rhetoric permeating the discourse around Asian immigrants and Asian Americans.

“We thought, ‘What could we do to support other women makers?’” says Phan, who adds that people of Asian descent owning small businesses in the arts is often “untraditional.” (Phan of Vietnamese descent and Sim of Chinese descent.) “We’re often encouraged to pursue math, science, or medicine,” she says. “So we really wanted to have something that highlighted the diversity of our cultures and the art we make.”

Kelly Zhu

Kelly Zhu

The two decided to team up to host a Lunar New Year celebration in East Austin, one that would support makers and small business owners of all genders who are part of the Asian diaspora. Phan said she worried whether people would come. “I didn’t want to disappoint vendors and people taking a chance for us,” she says. “But also, at that point, I hadn’t heard of any Lunar New Year events happening in East Austin.” Most had occurred in North Austin at an Asian grocery store, like MT or the Hong Kong supermarkets.

The first Lunar New Year Festival was a success. Around 1,500 people, most of whom had reserved entry tickets ahead of time, attended, shopping the more than 30 Asian-owned vendors and sticking around to watch the winding parade of lion and dragon dance performances. “To me, as someone of Asian descent, this is my most meaningful work,” Phan says, noting that she teared up seeing so many people from the community come out to support the Asian-owned businesses, especially following such a difficult year. “And it was not only people of Asian American descent,” she says. “We had people who grew up in East Austin community, black and brown people, who wanted to see what we were all about.”

Kelly Zhu

Now in its fourth year, Phan and Sim’s festival returns on Sunday, February 2, with more than 40 vendors, including fine arts, ceramics, jewelry, cottage bakers, candles, hair accessories, and more. Food vendors this year include Greater Goods Coffee, Lao’d Bar, Saigon Hospitality, Sate Texas Indonesian BBQ, and food trailer Thai Fresh. Diners can also treat themselves to baked goods and desserts by Cookie Wookie Kitchen, which will dish out White Rabbit Madelines and boxes with a curation of Lunar New Year-specific goodies — like cookies that highlight Asian flavors — and Pippa’s Homebackery, which typically sells out of its ube caramel cake.

Phan and Sim have also booked two lion performances at noon and 2 p.m., and plenty of family-friendly activities like arts and crafts, bilingual book readings from local authors, and face painting. “It’s so important to show kids the importance of diversity and celebrating different cultures, and supporting each other, especially this year, with the changes taking place,” says Phan, alluding to the newly inaugurated presidential administration.

General admission for the festival is donation-based, which helps pay for the event’s expenses, including performances, printing, and various festival fees. (Phan and Sim did sell $45 VIP tickets, which give access to prime viewing spots for the lion dance performances and festival tote bags filled with goodies from vendors, but they’ve already sold out.) A portion of the proceeds are donated to Asian Family Support Services of Austin and Austin Against Hate’s platform, We All Belong.

Kelly Zhu

See a full list of food and drink beverages below.

Beverages

• Greater Goods Coffee
• Sharetea
• Central Matcha

Baked Goods

• Bug & Bear’s Kitchen
• Cookie Wookie Kitchen
• Pippa’s Homebakery
• Hhomdee
• Gati Ice Cream

Hot Food

• Lao’d Bar
• Mabuhay Austin
• Mam Mam
• Saigon Hospitality
• Saté Texas Indonesian BBQ
• Thai Fresh

The 4th Annual Lunar New Year Celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Paper + Craft Pantry, 1023 Springdale Road, 6A, East Austin, 78721. Attendees can RSVP on Eventbrite.