Oshogatsu, a festival which celebrates the new year, is one of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens’ most popular events.

In Japan, the celebration of the new year is one of the country’s most anticipated holidays. They spend time in December cleaning their houses, literally and figuratively, to clear up obligations and debts to start the new year fresh. People travel home to be with family and loved ones, and keep the traditions, like sending new year’s greetings on postcards, and decorating their homes and trees.

They also say hello to a new year, and this year is the Year of the Snake. The Japanese zodiac says people born in the Year of the Snake are deep thinkers, and possess tremendous wisdom.

Here are three reasons to celebrate Oshogatsu Sunday:

Entertainment. There’s nothing that compares to the skill and athleticism, precision and synchronization of the Fusho Daiko taiko drummers. Other entertainment offerings: Open air koto performances (a small 13-stringed instrument a little bit like a harp) by Friends of Koto, the playful shishimai lion dancers and the mochitsuki or rice-pounding ceremony. Looking for something a little quieter? Try the storytelling at Mi-Chan’s corner, or, new this year, “Introducing Oshogatsu” talks by the education staff.

The food. Get a taste of mochi, traditional New Year’s rice cakes made from the signature rice-pounding ceremony. Observe the peace and quietude of sado, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Stop by the Kirin Beer Garden for a Kirin Ichiban on draft. The terrace at the Cornell Café will serve an a-la-carte menu. The Sake Station offers premium Japanese sake as well as tasting notes, and a Sake Sampler that lets you try three. Food vendors on the festival grounds offer Pan-Asian and all-American favorites.

Activities. Games and crafts are offered throughout the festival. Make a Year of the Snake bracelet or play Hanetsuki (Japanese badminton). Practice “Kakizome,” calligraphy using a brush and paint, to bring you prosperity in the new year. Discover what lies ahead at the Omikuji, the Japanese fortune-telling booth. ($1).

The museum’s permanent exhibits, “The Yamato Colony: Pioneering Japanese in Florida” and “Japan Through the Eyes of a Child,” and the special exhibit, “Entertaining the Gods and Man: Japanese Dolls and the Theater,” will be open.