By Khalida Sarwari
Hakone Gardens will celebrate the year of the horse in style on March 2.
Hakone’s second annual Chinese Village Fair, hosted by the Hakone Foundation, will feature children’s activities, an exhibit, food booths and entertainment.
Throughout the day, visitors will have a chance to participate in face painting and watch Chinese musical and martial arts performances.
A double-lion performance by the Far East Dragon and Lion Dance Association begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by a program of traditional Chinese dance and instrumental music, a magic show and a Wing-Chun gung-fu demonstration.
The fair also features tea tasting and dim sum. For children, there will be face painting and arts and crafts activities. Mayor Emily Lo will serve as this year’s grand marshal.
A new component this year is an art contest open to high school students in Saratoga. Students are asked to submit work depicting the horse in wall art or sculpture.
Applications are available on Hakone’s website at hakone.com. Entries can be submitted at Hakone’s gift shop. The deadline for submissions is March 1 at 3 p.m. Judging will take place prior to the beginning of the festival by a three-judge panel that includes Paul Sakamoto, an artist and former superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District; Jan Rindfleisch, director emeritus of the Euphrat Museum of Art Gallery at De Anza College; and Rick Waltonsmith, a sculptor based in Saratoga.
Prizes will be awarded to first- through third-place winners, and all entries from the student art contest will be displayed in Hakone’s first-ever art exhibit.
During the event, there will be a docent-led tour of the exhibit, which features original works, as well as reproductions and replicas of classical pieces, all of which have been loaned by private collectors. The exhibit runs through May 1.
The horse, which has occupied a revered and respected place in Chinese culture and was essential to the development of China’s civilization, was also a central part of Japanese life, according to event organizers. Of all the animals in the zodiac, the horse inspires the most empathy and affection, said Connie Yu, exhibit curator and president of the Hakone Foundation board.
“Historically, the Chinese have always felt that the horse helped shape the country,” Yu said. “The horse is rendered in sculpture and in painting in the most noble fashion. This is why we were inspired to have an art exhibit at the Cultural Exchange Center.”
The fair is open to the public and is free with the entrance fee to Hakone Gardens. The entrance fee is $8 for adults and $6 for students and seniors. Children under 5 are free.
Transportation to the event via a shuttle bus will be provided in downtown Saratoga at the corner of Sixth Street and Big Basin Way.
Hakone’s Chinese Village Fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2100 Big Basin Way.
