At 7:30 p.m. this evening the Chinese Culture Club, Korean Student Association and Vietnamese Student Association will host their annual Lunar New Year celebration in Laurie Auditorium.  It will feature acts including instrumental and musical performances, traditional dances, pop song dances and an appearance from Loon-E Crew.  Free Asian food will be provided.  T-shirts will cost $7.

Every year, the Lunar New Year is observed between the first new moon and the full moon 15 days later.  During the nights, lanterns are often displayed and carried by the celebrators.  This holiday is typically a time of gathering and unity within a family.  Ancestors are remembered, and the living are appreciated by all.  Through traditions, the family goes into the new year renewed and reconnected.

As a celebration of Asian culture, this event brings awareness to campus of the importance of discovering all ways of life.

“The main focus of TDC [Trinity Diversity Connection] is to educate and share different cultures to Trinity,” said Liz Hoang, president of the Vietnamese Student Association. “Diversity is important in our world. Many people have stereotypes of different cultures, and we are here to break those stereotypes and show that everyone is the same, no matter the color of their skin.”

“I think it is important to recognize Asian culture at Trinity, not only because we have a good number of Asian students here, but also because there is an increasing number of ethnically Asian professors, which we have invited and hope to see them at the event,” said Pola Shim, president of the Korean Student Association.

Not only does Lunar New Year celebrate Asian culture, but it exemplifies a fusion of different cultures.

“Lunar New Year is a great occasion for Trinity’s Asian clubs, including Chinese Culture Club, Korean Students Association and Vietnamese Student Association, to come together to celebrate and engage the community in Asian culture through performances like Korean pop music and traditional fan dances. Since this is a joint event among three clubs, the audience can get a sense of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese culture, and how these cultures differ,” said sophomore Kristina Cheng.

There will be many performances to entertain the audiences while enforcing the message and significance of the festival, including a song performed by Chia-wei Lee, associate professor of music, a traditional Vietnamese dance, a traditional Korean fan dance, and collaboration between KSA and VSA for a modern dance.

“There are several new performances. I would say we tried to add more traditional dances to the event, especially the Korean traditional fan dance,” Shim said. “It is the first time KSA is attempting to do this, so it will be something very new.”

Cheng believes that while people should be entertained by the celebration, there is also purpose and history behind these events.

“This event is a way for [Trinity students] to spread awareness of Asian culture and to foster diversity on campus,” Cheng said.