[SoCal Con Comm] Lunar Uma New Year 2026

Uma Luna New Year took place on February 28, 2026 at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA. The indoor Vietnamese mall has stood in the heart of Westminster’s Little Saigon district for as long as I can remember. I would go here to get cosplay accessories and outfits if I needed to modify them, especially if it were for East Asian characters. 2026 brought in the Year of the Fire Horse. The Uma Musume fandom is very much leaning into the zodiac theme.

Blooming Ash Events hosted this event. I heard about Luna Uma New Year shortly at Anime Los Angeles when my friends and I joined the Uma Musume meet up server. My friends and I were wondering where all the cool uma’s were hanging out. We vowed to check out the next local event.

This event took place outdoors in the warm Orange County sun. Even though parking at the Asian Garden Mall is the pain in the arse, we managed to snag a spot.

We made it just in time for the Uma Musume Cosplay meet up where horse girls and trainers took group photos in front of the mall.

Of course, a ton of cosplayers made it to the event. If I took a photo of you, feel free to use it on your socials.

As of note, I loved how cosplayers integrated Lunar New Year fashion, particularly ao dai’s into their fit. Hindsight 20/20, I should have done this as I own two red qipao’s (but for which uma?)

The event had Lunar New Year activities to keep everyone entertained. I loved that we had a dragon dance as part of the festivities! We had New Year fortunes and red lantern making. I also loved that we had favorite children’s party game, “Pin the Tail on the Golshi.”

We had about a dozen or so artists present selling Uma Musume related merchandise ranging from peeker decals, acrylic charms, stickers, prints, and more. I was on the hunt for anything Zenno Rob Roy related. Gotta represent the horse girl who loves books!

We also had Uma Musume karaoke. I gave it go with “Hashire Uma Musume” because I had the Midori no Makibao version stuck in my head.

My favorite part of the day was Uma Musume races in front of the mall. The good news is that we had the front part of the Asian Garden Mall partitioned to our event. So, all of us running races didn’t interfere with general foot traffic. I did run two races!

We also had a raffle towards the end where the event organizers were giving away fan made prints and highly coveted standees.

Overall, the vibes of Lunar Uma New Year were great. Some people went to the movies afterwards. Our group saw the Uma Musume movie on opening night. Everyone was very friendly. No sense of elitism whatsoever. This reminded me of fandom events from back in the day where we would just meet up and have a good time. Blooming Ash Events knocked it out of the park with Lunar Uma New Year. My friends and I look forward to the next Uma Musume event in SoCal!