Hmong New Year to kick off week-long Fresno celebration, focus on connecting with roots

Fresno’s Hmong New Year celebration is a passing of cultures — both traditional and contemporary.

“We’re looking at a way to bring the younger generation to connect with their roots,” says Tonnah Her, who organizes the week-long event for Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration, Inc.

Along with the traditional dances, pageants and events — like the pov pob ball toss — there’s the Next Level Breakin’ Jam, a break dancing competition with prize money and medals.

The former are designed to preserve the Hmong culture for the younger generation. The latter, thanks to social media and sites like Youtube, should serve as a showcase to other Hmong communities around the world, Her says.

“We live in America, so kids do these things. We should embrace it,” she says.

What to expect

The Hmong New Year celebration kicks off Dec. 26 and is expected to draw 120,000 people to the Fresno Fairgrounds, for a week’s worth of activities and exhibits.

The event runs through Jan. 1.

Along with dance and song competitions, there will be three sections for food booths daily, plus a business expo and a series of sports tournaments (including volleyball, flag football, soccer and tennis plus traditional Hmong games like tub lub and sepak tawkraw).

For the younger guests, a kids fun house will be set up inside the Education Building.

While there are a number of off-site after-hour events happening around town during the festival’s run, there will be nightly concert parties at the fairgrounds, for those coming in from out town, Her says. That includes a Saturday night performance from Hmong rock band the Sounders.

A full list of events and exhibits can be found on the event’s website www.hmongcultural.org.

Security concerns

Safety is a major concern at this year’s festival, following the shooting that happened at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July and the mass shooting in last month that killed four members of Fresno’s Hmong community.

This year’s event will feature added police and security, Her says.

There will be a moment of silent for the victims during the event’s opening ceremonies.

A community celebration

This is the third year that Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration, Inc. has hosted the event at the fairgrounds and put a focus on connecting with the younger generation.

In 2017, a competitive bid for the fairgrounds caused a notable split between the organizers and the Hmong International New Year Foundation, which had held the celebration at the fairgrounds for nearly 20 years. That group held an event at Granite Park, but did not host an event last year.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of young families coming back,” Her says.

While, the New Year’s celebration is obviously a cultural event, organizers also want it to be a community event, Her says. While there is a large Hmong community in the Central Valley, there are many people outside that community who have never been to, or even heard of Hmong New Year.

“We welcome other cultures,” she says.

HMONG NEW YEAR CULTURAL CELEBRATION

When: Daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 26 through New Year’s Day

Where: Fresno Fairgrounds

Details: www.hmongcultural.org

This story was originally published December 24, 2019 at 2:59 PM.