Westfield Santa Anita is the premier retail destination for the San Gabriel Valley (SGV), a geographic region located in Southern California with an Asian American population of over half a million (US Census 2010). Since 2013, we have worked with Westfield Santa Anita in bringing to life an annual Lunar New Year (LNY) program that celebrates the Asian holiday and traditions with its community at large. Like its other programs and events, the LNY celebration strives to serve the community by creating experiences that allow for meaningful connections with Westfield Santa Anita, its retailers, and community members.

Community engagement and involvement was a key area of focus for Westfield Santa Anita’s LNY program. We engaged with elementary schools in the SGV area for a LNY Student Art Contest as a means of inspiring and empowering artistic expression. All submitted artwork would be put on display at Westfield Santa Anita, and three winners were selected by a panel of local artists for recognition on stage at the main event. In addition to the student art, a pop-up exhibition curated by the Chinese Museum of Art of Downtown Los Angeles provided more LNY visuals throughout the center.

Another long-time partner of the LNY program is First General Bank, for whom we designed a custom Wish Tree as a brand activation piece. Throughout the duration of the LNY campaign, the Wish Tree would be displayed in the center of Westfield Santa Anita for guests to make contributions to the Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) by hanging their wishes on the Wish Tree. With First General Bank’s generous donation-match, we were able to meet APCF’s campaign goals of $10,000 each LNY!

In 2018, we introduced the Shadow Box Art Installation to the signature LNY decorations that were put up each year throughout Westfield Santa Anita. The Shadow Box Art Installation, a modern take on the theatrical art of the Chinese Shadow Puppetry, was displayed in Center Court as a unique photo/selfie opportunity for guests. Sharing of the photos on social networks was encouraged with First General Bank making a $25 donation to APCF for each campaign-hashtagged photo,

All program components and promotions led up to the flagship LNY Celebration event each year. The LNY Celebration would feature arts and crafts for children, traditional games, calligraphers, red envelopes, photo zones, and live entertainment, including an ancient Sichuan Face-Changing opera, an exhilarating Chinese martial arts demonstration, traditional Chinese instrumental performances, and the crowd favorite, lion and dragon dancers.

The growth in center traffic, participating retailers and partners, and event attendance year over year demonstrates the success of the Westfield Santa Anita LNY program and its efforts to continuously evolve and provide its guests with new ways to connect with the brand and its retailers and restaurants.