Once Every 60 Years, the Fire Horse Arrives. Pasadena Seniors Will Mark the Moment

The last time the Year of the Fire Horse came around, the Beatles were still together and the Vietnam War was escalating. Now it’s back — and the Pasadena Senior Center plans to welcome it with drums, lion costumes, and kung fu.

The center’s annual Lunar New Year Cultural Thursday celebration is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, at 2:00 p.m. at its campus at 85 East Holly Street.

The program features a traditional Lion Dance and martial arts demonstrations performed by Grandmaster Ken Hui and his Northern Shaolim Kung Fu Association, who have brought the celebration to the center in prior years. The Year of the Fire Horse — a combination in the Chinese zodiac that last appeared in 1966 — occurs only once every 60 years, according to National Geographic. The current Lunar New Year began February 17.

Hui, a former JPL engineer, founded the Northern Shaolim Kung Fu Association and has become a familiar presence at Pasadena-area Lunar New Year events. At a 2025 celebration at the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, he told the audience, “It’s supposed to bring you good luck if you touch the lion,” according to the Daily Trojan.

The Lion Dance, which draws its fundamental movements from kung fu stances and kicks, traces its origins more than 2,000 years ago in China, according to Pasadena Now’s prior coverage of the PSC event.

The celebration is part of the center’s ongoing Cultural Thursdays programming series. It is free for Pasadena Senior Center members and $5 for nonmembers. Reservations are suggested and can be made online at www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org or at the Welcome Desk.

The Pasadena Senior Center, which describes itself in its own materials as a donor-supported nonprofit that operates without local, state, or federal funding, serves adults 50 and older throughout the San Gabriel Valley. The center temporarily closed in January 2026 to address debris left by the Eaton Fire, including fallen trees and branches surrounding the facility. The March 5 event marks a return to the center’s regular cultural programming.

For more information, call (626) 795-4331 or visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org.

In the Chinese zodiac, the horse is associated with strength, swiftness, and freedom — qualities the Fire element is said to amplify. The Fire Horse won’t come again until 2086.