Lunar New Year festival gives taste of Asian culture

Hikari Taiko Drummers performed live at the festival. Christian Roberts | Lariat

The International Student Office and the ASG at Saddleback hosted their annual Lunar New Year celebration honoring Asian culture, family and new beginnings in CC 212 on Feb. 19. The festival featured music from taiko drummers, a student mandolin chamber and tables with activities and food.

“The Lunar New Year festival at Saddleback is an annual tradition that we have here, and it honors and celebrates the Chinese tradition,” said Nina Rose Hawthorne, a lead mentor in campus life.

The festival aimed to raise awareness of Asian culture and welcome the new Lunar year.

“We want to bring the word to campus, we want to have more American students learn about Asian culture. Lunar New Year is the most important festival in that region,” said Angela Yang, the director of the International Student Program. “We want students to taste every piece of the culture because we live in a global village.”

The zodiac animal for this year’s celebration is the fire horse which represents energy, excitement, passion and momentum.

“It’s a really special zodiac for this year. And I think it’s just really rooted in moving forward with purpose, speed, intensity,” said Christine Nguyen, a project specialist in the multicultural center. “It’s a really good year for people to take chances, to really believe in themselves. I think it’s just all about power, focus, and just manifesting good vibes growing on.”

Due to inclement weather, the event was moved from the quad to CC 212. Despite the weather outside, it didn’t dampen their spirits and vibes.

To kick off the festivities, the Hikari Taiko Drummers, based in Norwalk, held a live performance showcasing their high-intensity Japanese drumming and choreography. Their performance gave the festival its character and let the people know it’s time for the festival.

“As taiko drummers, we always like to bring as much energy as we possibly can. That’s why we really like opening festivals because we can just eject as much energy as we want,” said Noah Kurihara, a member of the drumline. 

Another performance featured was a Chinese student mandolin chamber from the ESL portion of the International Student Group.

The event atmosphere, along with the performances, was immersed in Asian culture with tables serving lunch such as noodles, dumplings, rice and drinks like boba. Activities featured games like mahjong and crafts such as calligraphy, lantern painting and making keychains for good luck. All the performances and activities gave the festival a celebratory and dynamic feel.

“The vibe’s been cool. It’s been a big celebration,” said Quynn Luscinski, a Saddleback student. “I think it was really a great opportunity for us all to come together and experience a different culture than our own and hear their music and enjoy the food.” 

The celebratory and upbeat atmosphere of the festival not only brought a positive vibe to the event, but also helped create that sense of community among people across campus from different backgrounds.

“We just saw people from all different communities, races, ethnicities. So that was just really empowering and shows cultural events are not siloed to specific cultures and communities,” Nguyen said. “People were all just here to have fun, celebrate, and learn more about the culture.” Nguyen also added that attendees didn’t have to be Asian American to understand or take part in the celebration, but that everyone was there to have fun.

With the marking of the year of the horse, many hope that the new year is filled with good fortunes, prosperity, resilience and excitement.

“I hope the horse can bring us more energy, more excitement, because we live in a world, you know, full of challenges, difficulties. But we have the energy, we have the motivation, we can still solve the problems,” Yang said.

Rose Hawthorne hopes the new year will bless everyone with great energy and that people of different cultures will all come together.

“We hope everybody has a good energetic year and can fulfill their desires of things they’re looking to do and learn, and move forward,” said Kurt Hamara, a member of the drumline.

Luscinski summarized his hopes for the new year in two words, “academic excellence.”

The event was sponsored by the International Student Office, The Chinese Student Association, The Asian American Pacific Islanders Club, the International Diversity Student Council and the Associated Student Government.

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