Here’s what’s different at this year’s Hmong New Year at the Fresno Fairgrounds

The group hosting Fresno’s annual, weeklong Hmong New Year festival at the Fresno Fairgrounds is aiming to add a pinch of youth to the traditional celebrations.

Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration, Inc., was formed in April 2017 and is hosting the festival for the second time. Event manager Tonnah Her said the group sought to make this year’s event a bit different, including attracting younger people. She said more than half of this year’s attendees are people under the age of 35.

“It’s very promising to see them engaging with the culture,” Her said. “We were losing them for maybe 10 years.”

The Hmong New Year event is one of the largest of its kind and draws people from all over the United States. Her said Hmong from Canada, China and France came this year.

Some new attractions this year are in the fairground’s Industrial Commerce Building. Her said that’s where a cultural exhibit displays Hmong huts and historical tools used by Hmong farmers. There’s also a display showing the evolution of Hmong clothing. Her said an educator who works at Clovis Unified and Fresno State took the lead in designing the clothing exhibit.

Other new features are a library featuring Hmong authors, break dancing competitions and new Hmong performance artists.

Still, Her said attendance isn’t quite where she’d like it to be. Opening day Wednesday saw around 15,000, according to an estimate Her provided. The event runs daily through Tuesday.

The event at the fairgrounds is the only one celebrating Hmong new year in Fresno this year, according to Her. She said the Cultural Hmong New Year Celebration group invited members of the group that previously hosted the event to take part in this year’s planning.

Last year, a competitive bid for the fairgrounds caused a notable split between the Hmong celebrations. The Hmong International New Year Foundation, which had held the celebration at the fairgrounds for nearly 20 years, fell short on a contract bid and took its event to Granite Park, where attendance was sparse.

According to Lauri King, deputy manager at The Big Fresno Fair, Her’s group won a contract that was good for one year at a time and eligible to be renewed for at least four years.

The Hmong International New Year Foundation appeared quiet this year. Its official website has expired and its telephone number is not in service. Its social media sites have not been updated since last year, and an official at Granite Park said no requests were made this year to host Hmong new year events.

Hmong New Year Cultural Celebration

When: Daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through New Year’s Day

Where: Fresno Fairgrounds

This story was originally published December 27, 2018 at 4:30 PM.