By Khalida Sarwari
How can you tell that springtime is on the horizon in Saratoga? Some telltale signs are the cherry blossoms, flowering plum and flowering quince shrubs at Hakone Gardens.
In celebration of the Lunar New Year, Hakone will hold a festival on March 3 to usher in the year of the snake.
The fifth annual Chinese village fair, taking place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this year, will be opened by Connie Young Yu, whose parents were one of six families–four of them Chinese-American and two with European origins–who came together to save the 18-acre estate 50 years ago.
Her restaurateur parents, John and Mary Young, helped restore Hakone and sold the estate and gardens to the city of Saratoga in the 1960s. Yu said she was thrilled about the opportunity to be a part of the occasion.
“I will be proud to represent their legacy,” she said. “It’s something I’d never dreamed of.”
At the festival this year, Yu, who also serves as the Hakone Foundation’s first Chinese-American board president, will display 15 Qing Dynasty children’s hats from her personal collection at the Cultural Exchange Center and museum. The hats are traditionally worn by children during the Lunar New Year, Yu said.
Other features of the event include a children’s lion dance performance at the grand entrance gate, a women’s drumming group in a bazaar setting, tea tasting, vendors selling handmade Chinese arts and crafts and accessories, an exhibition of Chinese paintings and scrolls, traditional Chinese music, Tai Chi and calligraphy demonstrations and children’s activities. There will also be food booths selling dim sum and noodles, desserts and drinks.
Amid all the excitement, Yu encouraged attendees to take notice of the natural beauty in abundance this time of year at Hakone.
“Hakone Gardens showing signs of spring is the highlight,” she said. “It’s really the welcoming of the Lunar New Year.”
Last year, about 250 people attended the festival, according to Lon Saavedra, CEO of the Hakone Foundation.
Dignitaries invited to the March 3 event are Assemblyman Paul Fong and members of the Chinese consulate, as well as the city council, including Mayor Jill Hunger and Vice Mayor Emily Lo, who is on the Hakone lunar festival organizing committee.
There is no admission charge aside from the regular entrance fee, which is $8 for the general public and $6 for students and seniors. Children 5 and younger get in free.
In the event that the parking lot at Hakone fills up, a shuttle bus will be available for people to take from downtown Saratoga, according to Saavedra.
