View our Year of the Rat Exhibit

 

 

For Lunar New Year 2020, we invite you to explore a multi-story display celebrating the Year of the Rat. The festive display was designed by South Coast Plaza and built by Fiesta Parade Floats, the top award-winning company in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

 

 

 

 

 

In keeping with tradition, the display features an abundance of fresh and dried floral materials. A collection of 20 rat figures symbolizing the year 2020 are crafted from brown and white sesame seeds. The three largest rat figures measuring 14-ft. tall raise their arms as if to welcome a 6-ft. wide LED sphere displaying an ever-changing collection of eye-catching images. They stand in a garden of red anthuriums and lemon-lime dracaenas blooms, surrounded by an ornamental bamboo reed.

 

 

 

 

Tip: look around and you’ll spot nine rat figures in beautifully landscaped garden planters. Each one carries a good luck charm associated with Lunar New Year traditions. The edible symbols, a juicy Carp fish and a basket of oranges, symbolize abundance, the promise of having plenty of food in the coming year and good luck. 

 

 

 

 

Golden coins and the golden Chinese ingot both symbolize wishes for wealth and good fortune. Red envelopes bring happiness and wealth with wishes for a safe and peaceful year. Lucky Bamboo represents rising prosperity and longevity. A Happy New Year Scroll announces the Year of the Rat. The glittering firecrackers and Chinese mystic knot are meant to scare away evil spirits and keep away bad luck. 

 

 

 

 

Underneath South Coast Plaza’s iconic stained-glass dome are eight illuminated red satin giant lanterns, each one adorned with gold glitter and fringed beads and accompanied by a whimsical rat figure.

 

Stop by during center hours through February 9 to view the display on level one in Jewel Court. More on our center’s Lunar New Year celebrations.