By Khalida Sarwari
If you thought you partied hard this past New Year’s Eve, here is something to think about: In China, the celebration lasts 10 days.
As Asian countries prepare to usher in the year of the horse, area residents can get a taste of the important Chinese holiday on Feb. 9 at Argonaut Elementary School.
The Saratoga Lunar New Year event, now in its third year, promises an afternoon of games, arts and crafts and dancing for people of all ages. Newly minted Saratoga Mayor Emily Lo helped organize the event along with Cynthia Chang and Katherine Tseng, members of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District board of trustees.
“This is really a community-based event,” said Lo. “We’d like to make use of this event for people to get to know one another and make friends, too. Everyone is welcome and it’s free.”
Lo said she anticipates an attendance of 300 people, “if not more.”
Jan. 31 marked the first day of the Lunar New Year–the most prominent holiday in China, Korea and Vietnam–and the year of the horse. The horse, said Lo, is associated with energy and determination.
“Typically, people will clean their house to welcome the new year, and they visit each other to send greetings,” she said. “They prepare food, and there will be firecrackers to scare away the evil spirits.”
This year’s event will offer something the previous two, in 2006 and 2012, did not: the city’s elected officials strutting their stuff in a Chinese costume fashion show. Participants will include Lo, city council members Chuck Page, Howard Miller and Manny Cappello, members of the Los Gatos-Saratoga high school board, Santa Clara Valley Water District board member Nai Hsueh and Fremont Unified School District board member Lily Mei.
The festivities also include a Chinese calligrapher who will offer to transcribe names using traditional ink and brush; Chinese dance and music including performances by the Saratoga Tai Chi group, the Jun Lu Performing Dance School; and the Saratoga Vision Chinese School, and a tai chi sword performance by Lo.
During the event, El Camino Hospital will be conducting a free osteoporosis screening and distributing information about their health services.
The Saratoga Lunar New Year celebration takes place Feb. 9 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at Argonaut Elementary School, 13200 Shadow Mountain Drive in Saratoga.
Usher in the Year of the Horse at Saratoga Lunar New Year event
