Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "hmong new year"

Hmong New Year brings thousands to Cal Expo

2010-11-29T07:32:11Z

The smoky scent of fresh-cooked food and blaring sound of Hmong music filled the air at Cal Expo Thursday through Sunday for the annual Hmong New Year celebration.

Over the four-day period, more than 35,000 people swarmed the state fairgrounds to ring in the unofficial Hmong New Year, according to Sacramento Hmong New Year treasurer Mark Ching.

In addition to the rows of music, food and clothing vendors, some activities of the celebration included a dance competition, Miss Hmong beauty pageant and the Hmong Idol singing competition.

“This is part of my tradition, part of my culture, and also an identity of myself, so in a way it’s a part of me,” Hmong New Year enthusiast Ying Lo said.

He comes out every year for at least one day of the celebration to take part in the ceremonies, but his favorite part is the parade on opening day.

“During the parade, all the bad stuff and back luck that we had from the past year gets thrown away and we renew ourselves and embrace the upcoming year,” he said.

Krystilla Cha has come every year for the last 20 years and enjoys every year as much as the last.

She came out to see old friends, get some new movies, buy some new outfits, look around and see new Hmong jewelry to wear next year.

“You meet old relatives from your childhood and everyone comes together,” Cha said. “I have a lot of old relatives from places like Seattle, France, sometimes even South America.... A lot of people come to the Sacramento New Year because it’s a pretty big event, so you get people from everywhere.”

Shop-owner Mou proudly shared his tasty “cocktail fruit,” a tangy hybrid of the mandarin orange and pomelo, which seemed to be a popular buy.

Jeanne Lemkuil is very close friends with a Hmong family and comes with them to explore and buy Hmong handicrafts, fruit and other food.

She picked up three bags of the cocktail fruit, persimmons, green papaya salad, purple sticky rice and barbecued chicken, along with some gloves for her 9-year-old friend Sunshine Vang.

“My favorite part is coming here to buy stuff that I like,” Vang said. “Like gloves, fruit and vegetables and DVDs and movies for us to watch.”

And Sunshine wasn’t the only kid who came out for a good time. Hundreds of children, usually dressed in traditional Hmong clothes, accompanied their parents and grandparents to partake in this exquisite display of Hmong culture and welcome the year to come.

Grant's 4th Annual Hmong Club New Year Celebration

2010-11-23T05:45:27Z

It’s afterschool at Grant Union High School and the crowd goes wild!
No it is not Grant’s Friday night football game and no the crowd is not at Grant’s football field either.

Just before the thanksgiving break Grant’s auditorium is packed with not just any students of Grant but the Hmong students of Grant and their family, friends and other Hmong within the community.

In celebrations to Hmong New Year, Grant’s Hmong Club hosted their 4th annual Hmong New Year event which was opened to the community at Grant’s soccer field and in the auditorium Nov. 17.

Grant Union High School is well-known for their football team, but what you may not realize is that Grant is a really diverse public school and one of its major diversities is Hmong students and Hmong club is based on anybody and everybody who wants to enjoy the culture, support the culture and take part in the culture. Although mainly Hmong students, everyone volunteered to help out and support the club and the culture.

Grant’s Hmong Club is a minority club that has been around for quite some time. There are about 40 members this year and five available officers: the president, the vice president, the secretary, the treasurer and the public relations. Every year the officers change. Hmong Club advisors help supervise and advise; this year the three advisors are English teachers Mr. Xavier Young and Ms. Julie Lee and Mr. Thai Yang who works in the special education department.

According to Yang, Hmong club can be a place for Hmong students to meet and greet either because they are new to the school, returning or just wanting to make more Hmong friends. It is also to familiarize themselves with their culture and to express themselves.

The first half of the event took place on Grant’s soccer field. The club invited two people in the community with their family or friends to be venders at the event. Rio Linda High School Hmong Club had a booth and Grant’s Student Council joined in as well. Members of Hmong Club provided tables for the venders and booths and helped set up.

School ended at 2:30p.m and the outside event was schedule to open at 2:45p.m. Other Grant students came by the soccer field to check out what’s going on. Some bought food and drinks and stayed to watch performances by Foothill High School’s dance team, Grant’s cheerleading squad, Grant’s Drum Line and the Aztec dancers. Even a few teachers stopped by.

“They kind of help bring in more attention to the event,” said Diane Lee, treasurer of Hmong Club, who was happy that a lot of other students that weren’t Hmong came.

A volleyball net was provided and set up in the middle of the soccer field. Couples and friends toss tennis balls back and forth, a traditional custom during Hmong New Years. Venders sold food and drinks such as eggrolls, papaya salad, and meat balls with sauce and orange chicken. There was even speakers and music provided by a volunteer.

The majority of Grant’s Hmong club and Hmong students all wore their best traditional Hmong clothes. Most of them even wore the outfits the whole day! Grant teachers and other students did not mind at all. In fact, they enjoyed it.

“We reached out into the community a little bit more,” said Panhoia Lee, vice president of Hmong Club, who thought that this year’s event was better than last year’s because more people attended.

The event inside the auditorium started around 5:30p.m. with introductions from the advisors, the officers and then given to the hosts. The first show was a fashion show, where members and students in their Hmong outfits walk down the aisles and up to the stage. The crowd cheered and clapped excitedly throughout the whole event.

There were a lot of volunteered performers. The performances included Hmong traditional dancers, Hmong singers and bands from all over Sacramento. Some Hmong students and Hmong Club members even participated in performing. Every performance received rounds of applauses until the very end.

This whole event was based on doing culture activities such as meeting and greeting new friends, old friends, the community, and being able to toss ball, eat and perform traditional dances, sing, and dress up in the most beautiful traditional outfits and showing it off by wearing it proudly.

“I feel that we did a wonderful job, everyone came out together and threw out there a wonderful event; we never thought how good it all worked out,” said Mr. Yang who is very proud of his Hmong Club students because the show was scheduled to end at the latest 10p.m. but because of the student’s good work, it all ended before 9p.m.

Nancy Lo, Hmong Club’s PR thought the event was a great idea and said, “The Hmong community isn’t really big and the event was to kind of let others know about our culture and that we exist here at Grant.”

Hmong New Year celebration

2009-11-30T06:14:33Z

Thanksgiving Day usually means eating turkey. But for thousands of local Hmong, it means eating Hmong sausage, grilled pork and sticky rice while attending the Sacramento Hmong New Year celebration at Cal Expo.

More than 40,000 people are expected to attend the four-day celebration which begins Thursday and ends Sunday, said John Thao, Hmong New Year Committee board member. The board formed six years ago and consists of one representative from each of the 18 Hmong clans which make up Sacramento's community of approximately 26,000 to 28,000 Hmong. Hmong come from the mountainous regions of China and other countries Southeast Asia.

Nov. 14 and 15, Hmong already celebrated the new year at home with their immediate families and close relatives, Thao said. The celebration at Cal Expo is more than a New Year celebration - it's a festival of unity, a way to show wealth, meet new faces and come together to show support for the Hmong community in Sacramento, he said.

At 10 a.m. Thursday, General Vang Pao, will be cutting a ceremonial ribbon and giving a speech during the celebration's opening ceremony. A Hmong American born in Laos, the General fought in the Royal Lao Army and is revered by both Hmong in the U.S. and Asia. He was recently released of conspiracy charges.

His speech will kick off four days of events including a Miss Hmong California pageant, a Hmong Idol singing competition and a play reflecting on why the Hmong celebrate the new year.

The celebration will include local and international performers singing, playing music and dancing, said Tony Moua, the event's entertainment chair. Hmong people from China, Thailand and Laos, as well as other Asian American groups from Sacramento, are expected to attend the festival.

Moua and Thao both said they were excited that General Vang Pao will attend the celebration.

"He doesn't visit the area very often, (so) this is a wonderful event for Sacramento," Moua said. "It means the whole world to me, and it means that the region is strong and dynamic."

"It's important to all the Hmong, he's a hero to the people," Thao added.

Sacramento and Fresno both have about the same population of Hmong, the largest in California. Thao said that Fresno's Hmong International New Year celebration will be held Dec. 26 - Jan. 2, and will hold the Miss Hmong International pageant.

He also said he was looking forward to watching the play, which will reflect the history of why Hmong people celebrate the new year. This will be the first time the play will be produced, and it will be held on the first day of the event.

One New Year tradition is playing "Swb Pob", pronounced "pah-bah," which Moua said has similar rules to an egg toss. It acts as a way to socialize and meet new people.

Competitors wearing traditional Hmong clothing begin standing 10 feet apart while tossing a ball to each other. Each team must back up five feet every three minutes until they are 35 feet apart. The last person still tossing at the end will win a $100 cash prize.

"It's a celebration of life and for people to meet each other and promote culture," Moua said. "We are extending our hands to reach out and we would hope others do the same."

Hmong New Year takes place from 10 a.m. until an unspecified evening closing time, Thursday through Sunday at Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd. Click here for the full schedule.

Photographs credit Lou Lo Photography. Photos show My Tzer Lao, last year's Miss Hmong California.