Oakland's Cambodian community is gearing up for the 2026 Khmer New Year Festival.

Khmer New Year — traditionally celebrated in mid-April — marks the turn of the calendar for Cambodia and its global diaspora. The Oakland festival brings together food, traditional dance, music, and Buddhist ceremonies that have survived some of the darkest chapters in modern history. The Cambodian community in the East Bay, many of whom are descendants of refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge genocide in the late 1970s, has built something genuinely meaningful here.

What makes events like this worth highlighting isn't just the cultural spectacle — though the food alone is worth the trip. It's that grassroots community organizations and local volunteers consistently pull off vibrant, well-attended celebrations year after year.

If you're in the East Bay this spring, make the trip. Support the vendors, try the amok, watch the classical dance performances, and appreciate what community looks like when it's built from the ground up.