Nevada City Chinese Lunar New Year Festival and Parade
Sunday, March 1, 2026, 12:00-5:00 pm
from Commercial Street, to Spring Street, and to the Miners Foundry
The Nevada City Chinese Lunar New Year Festival and Parade welcome the Year of the
Horse, on Sunday, March 1, 2026, 12:00-5:00 p.m. Chinese New Year Festivals are a cultural “gem” in rural communities, and CATS, along with the Miners Foundry Cultural Center, is proud to present this twelfth family-friendly celebration, honoring the early Chinese Gold Rush pioneers and railroad workers of the Sierra. Nevada County was once home to thousands of Chinese during the Gold Rush, and this event honors their legacy. Check out the Firehouse Museum on Main Street, while you’re waiting for the parade to begin. It houses many early Chinese and Nisenan tribe artifacts. The community parade begins at 12:00 noon from the bottom of the Chinese Quarter on Commercial Street, where revelers may line up. The parade starts from the Robinson Plaza on Union Street (by the Nevada City Chamber office and the large Pelton Wheel), going up Commercial Street, making a left turn down Broad Street, making a right turn down Bridge Street (Bonanza Market), and then onto Spring Street where the celestial Lion dancing will take place immediately following the parade. Revelers may follow the Lions and Dragon from Commercial Street to Spring Street. After their outdoor performance, more entertainment and exhibits will take place inside the Miners Foundry, for an afternoon of fun for the whole family! Free admission. We thank the Miners Foundry, the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, the City of Nevada City, and the Nevada County Arts Council for their collaboration.
Our parade Grand Marshals are Susan Levitz and Pascale Fusshoeller, founders of YubaNet.com, who have been staunch supporters of CATS and a great asset to the community. On October 16, 1999, YubaNet.com went live. The local website, named after Nevada County’s South Yuba River, included free classified ads, a post-it-yourself community calendar, reports on weather and road conditions, and a message board. On that first day, 17 people visited the site. Later that day, the founders sat outside, raising a glass to their new venture. That’s when they spotted a plume of smoke in the distance — a sight that would forever change YubaNet’s trajectory. Fusshoeller and Levitz made a few calls and learned about the Pendola Fire from Tahoe National Forest’s public affairs officer. Quickly, they decided to post real-time information about the fire on YubaNet — an innovative decision at the time. In the 26 years since, the website has continued to provide real-time updates and crucial information to Nevada County residents during natural disasters. Local news, a focus on the arts and a sense of humor are still core values for the small team. Fun fact: CATS’ very first website was designed by Pascale! CATS is pleased to be honoring them as its Grand Marshals at the Year of the Horse parade.
Parade units include the audience favorite — Chinese ceremonial Lion Dancers and a 72’ Chinese Dragon from Eastern Ways Martial Arts of Sacramento — second and third graders from Bell Hill Academy, “Mulan,” (aka Lily Emmolo), martial artists, theatre groups, and other community entries. Food vendors are Kaliko’s Hawaiian Kitchen and a kettle corn vendor. The Foundry Bar will serve up Asian-inspired drinks! There will be Asian-themed arts and crafts and gifts for sale, a kid’s table, mahjong, a new children’s book launch and sale on the Lunar New Year by Allison Chan, face painting with Chinese horoscope tattoos, Chinese tea ceremony demonstrations, Rose Murphy from the Nevada County Historical Society promoting free self-guided historic walking tours of the Grass Valley and Nevada City Chinatowns, Lisa Redfern promoting her historical fiction novel about Chinese railroad workers on Donner Summit, community vendors and more. We are seeking parade entries, entertainers, vendors, exhibitors, sponsors, and lots of volunteers. Contact Jeannie Wood at info@catsweb.org
Rashomon Dinner Movie Fundraiser
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
7:00 p.m.
in collaboration with The Onyx Downtown, at the Nevada Theatre
To build excitement and launch for Rashomon, CATS 2026 spring show, CATS is planning a dinner and movie at the Nevada Theatre, presenting the famed Akira Kurosawa movie
of 1950, starring Toshiro Mifune. Pick up your Bento Box dinner from Kaliko’s Hawaiian Kitchen food truck beforehand, which will be parked right outside the Nevada Theatre that evening and then buy your movie ticket at the Box Office. Enjoy your Bento Box dinner inside the Theatre before the movie begins. Regular concessions like popcorn and candies will still be available for sale. In addition to the movie, we will feature a sword-fight demonstration, as well as a talk by our director to compare the movie with the upcoming play in April and May. This evening promises to stir your imagination.
Mahjong Continues at the
Sierra Gold Community Senior Center
231 Colfax Avenue, Grass Valley
Fridays from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
CATS has had mahjong classes on and off for the past ten years at various locations in Grass Valley and Nevada City. We play the Hong Kong method. Many thanks to Hindi Greenberg who spearheads these weekly Friday sessions for CATS. Our regular “home” now for the past couple of years has been at the Sierra Gold Community Senior Center in Grass Valley, and our average attendance has been over twenty players weekly. There is a nominal fee to play (discounted for Senior Center members) and beginners may take lessons the first Friday of each month. Judy Baker also offers a mid-week mahjong social at another location. Contact Hindi at hindimahjong@gmail.com to be added to the weekly notification list. If attending, RSVP is requested.
AND THEN THEY CAME FOR US
by Abby Ginzberg
Wednesday, August 5, 7:00 p.m.
in Collaboration with The Onyx Downtown at the Nevada Theatre
AND THEN THEY CAME FOR US is a cautionary and inspiring documentary for all societies, directed by Abby Ginzberg and Ken Schneider. In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, paving the way for the forced incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. The film educates audiences about the constitutional damage done in the name of national security due to war hysteria and racism. Featuring actor George Takei and others who were incarcerated, rediscovered photos of Dorothea Lange and the story of Fred Korematsu’s long journey to justice, the film brings history into the present, as it follows Japanese Americans speaking out against the Muslim travel ban (the film was produced in 2017 at the height of the Muslim “hysteria”) A panel of internment camp survivors and descendants will talk with the audience afterwards and examine the current “immigrant hysteria” and the deportations of immigrants by ICE and other regressive immigration policies. If you would like to be a member of this panel, please email info@catsweb.org for consideration. The film represents an “eerie” undertone for the current times.
Buy Tickets Here
Create Your Own Origami Cranes
to Adorn your Home
Taught by Patty Lum-Ohmann
A Three-hour Workshop in the Summer of 2026 in Nevada City or Grass Valley Date, Time, and Venue: TBA
RSVP: info@catsweb.org.
Spaces limited to 20 participants.
Cost: $35 includes all materials
Many of you may recall the exquisite Origami Crane Chandelier that was the focal point of CATS’ Art in Public Spaces exhibit at the Rood Government Center in Nevada City from January to the end of March 2024. If not, it currently cascades from the ceiling in the foyer of the Madelyn Helling Library. Many volunteers folded and strung over 2,500 cranes in 2023, under Patty Lum-Ohmann’s direction, to create this beautiful art that represents peace and friendship.
You now have an opportunity to fold origami cranes and string them up to beautify your home!
Patty will teach you how to fold the cranes and how to create “hanging strands” with fishing lines and sparkling beads. CATS will supply all materials. If you are interested, please email info@catsweb.org to be on the notification list. When the workshop is scheduled, we will be back in touch and send you a signup form.