Locals celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year at El Presidio, giant projections capture “forgotten” history of Santa Barbara’s Chinese community
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— It’s a history that some local historians say has been erased.
“When you walk through the neighborhood right now, for Asian-American people, it can be hard to find yourself in the story, even though we're able to say this was the location of Chinatown and Japantown,” said Anne Petersen, a historian with Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
But once upon a time there was a thriving Chinese community in Santa Barbara.
“This site was the location of Chinatown and one block down the street towards State Street. And then in the 1930s, this was new Chinatown,” said Petersen.
Friday and Saturday, the community is invited to “Chinatown Remembered,” an event filled with Chinese traditions, art, music, and dance.
Karena Jew from the Santa Barbara AAPI Solidarity Network says the decision to host the event at El Presidio serves to correct a common misconception locals have.
“They were the under impression under the impression that Chinatown was completely destroyed by the earthquake, when in fact, it actually wasn't. It was kind of gentrified away. when I said that we want to honor the residents here, bringing them back here is a way of giving them the dignity that they deserve,” said Jew.
Camarillo Kung Fu and Lion Dance Association will open each evening with a special performance.
An immersive projection installation will highlight the history of Santa Barbara’s Chinese community.
“We look for ways that we can get the stories of the people who lived here back into the streetscape. And this using these nighttime projections is to put the historical photos of the people who lived here huge on the wall so that we can have them reappear and have people get to know them.” is a way for us to tell the broader stories of Chinatown and the Chinese people who lived in Santa Barbara and really helped build the city and made it the community that it is today,” said Petersen.
The free event takes place Friday and Saturday from 6:30 pm to 10 pm.
Celina Garcia, Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
“we spend so much time kind of uplifting like the Spanish roots, especially with like Fiesta. So it's really great to kind of have something like a Lunar New Year festival to kind of bring to light like those underrepresented stories.”
