On the evening February 13, over 150 community members gathered at The Hamlin School to celebrate Lunar New Year with home-cooked food and festive cheer. The uplift and positive energy was palpable, with smiles beaming out in all directions.

In communities around the world, the Lunar New Year is the most important and most festive holiday of the year. Through centuries of agrarian tradition, this was the one period when farmers could rest from their work in the fields. Family members from near and far would travel to be with loved ones in time to usher out the old year and welcome in the new, with great celebratory flourish. Today, all over the world, during what is often commonly referred to as the Spring Festival, passenger trains, buses, and river boats are packed with holiday travelers; shops do a flurry of business selling gifts, new clothes, and festive foods; kitchens are bustling with preparations for elaborate feasts; and streets are filled with the sounds of firecrackers and seasonal greetings.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in countries and territories such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand (among others).  

Participants watched a traditional lion dance and a martial arts performance. Representatives from the Asian Art Museum also led calligraphy art activities and provided storytelling.

-Special thanks to Caren Gutierrez, Elizabeth Green Sah, and Sherlyn Leong from the Asian Art Museum for their help with the event.

For more information about PLAID, please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/page/plaid