2014 Cambodian New Year Festival | Oakland

FunCheap San Francisco | 5 April 2014

In Oakland, local Cambodians are gathering for a joyous celebration that will include traditional Khmer music, classical dance, hip hop and spoken word from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, April 5, 2014.

You can also sing karaoke and play Cambodian games for kids and adults. Cambodian artists will sell food and crafts. Traditionally the Cambodians celebrate the New Year in mid-April to mark the end of the harvesting season, when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labour before the rainy season begins.

An estimated 95% of Cambodia’s artists, dancers, and musicians were executed by the Khmer Rouge Regime responsible for the deaths of over 1.7 million Cambodians which targeted educated people starting on April 17, 1975. It is no small wonder, then, that the dancers and musicians featured at Cambodian New Year in Oakland command special respect, both from Cambodians and lovers of world music and culture.