The hard work of more than 90 student performers in various Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) student organizations will be realized at Trinity’s annual Lunar New Year celebration on Friday, Feb. 24. Lunar New Year is an Asian holiday with billions of participants worldwide that celebrates the arrival of the first new moon according to the lunisolar calendar.

The student-led event is the largest AAPI celebration at Trinity. According to Julie Bondy, senior biology and industrial design double major, it’s an opportunity to share and learn about various cultures.

“The Lunar New Year celebration is a great way for students who identify as Asian to share their culture and passion through dances and music,” Bondy said. “Students who want to learn more about Asian culture can learn those dances and hear music while engaging with the community.”

Thirteen acts will grace the stage at Laurie Auditorium, including the cultural dance performances of a Chinese lantern dance, a Vietnamese fan dance and a K-pop routine. Also performing will be the Trinity dance groups Prowlers, Loon-E Crew and Top Naach.

In addition to dance, the event will have a diverse array of acts from poetry readings to martial arts demonstrations. The poetry recitation will feature students from visiting Assistant Professor Elaine Wong’s Chinese literature in translation class.

“I started attending the Lunar New Year celebration before the pandemic,” Wong said. “My relationship to the students brought me to the event as an audience member and to consider doing more, by helping my students put together an act that still has a focus on them.”

This year the Student Programming Board (SPB) and Student Government Association (SGA) are helping fund the event, allowing for a photo booth and other programs which the Lunar New Year celebration has not had in the past. One of these includes a fashion show, which will start off the event and feature students wearing traditional clothing from various Asian countries.

Victoria Ni, sophomore accounting major and Lunar New Year performance coordinator, thought of adding the fashion show to Trinity’s Lunar New Year celebration because it was something she had at her high school.

“I thought it would be a great idea to bring it here. Lunar New Year is a big event that a lot of Asian people can connect to,” Ni said. “It’s a great way to share Asian culture on a campus where there’s not that many Asians.”

Student leaders began the planning process for the Lunar New Year celebration in July 2022.

Grace Khan, senior biology major, main logistical planner for Lunar New Year, emphasized that the celebration is possible due to the contributions from the Trinity community.

“I’ve helped plan Lunar New Year [celebration] since my sophomore year, and … the scale of the event has increased but the amount of collaboration has increased as well,” Khan said. “Lunar New Year is one of my favorite AAPI memories because it’s so fun when you get to be on stage with your friends cheering you on.”