Spokane Chinese Association's Lunar New Year celebration is Sunday: 'The whole thing is going to be splendid'

Feb. 15—Weiling Zhu, president of the Spokane Chinese Association, remembers the firecrackers on Lunar New Year growing up in China.

Right after midnight on New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar, thousands of families in China would launch fireworks to celebrate. Afterward, the joyfulness was measured by the thickness of the layer of red residuals left on the floor, Zhu said.

"You know how loud a firecracker is, right? Well, imagine the firecracker, and then every family plays a firecracker at the same time," Zhu said. "It's like a war zone, only that it is filled with joy."

That event will kick off the Spokane Chinese Association's Lunar New Year celebration Sunday at the Fox Theater — or at least a version of it.

"We can only play the video. We can only play the songs with the firecracker sound," Zhu said.

Lunar New Year, also know as Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival, is the most important cultural celebration in China, Zhu said, but it's celebrated in several Asian countries, including Korea and Vietnam. This year's new year fell on Saturday, bringing in the Year of the Dragon.

Other than a few years missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spokane Chinese Association has been hosting a Lunar New Year celebration every year since the association was founded in 2004. This year will be its second at the Fox.

"It's a very authentic Chinese traditional new year from the start to the very end," Zhu said. "It has become an iconic celebration in this region."

The 4 p.m. celebration will feature performances of Chinese martial arts, music and folk dances, including the dragon dance.

Hand-sewn costumes have been shipped over from China, and the association's performers, all volunteers, have been practicing for months.

"Every single performance has its own meaning," Zhu said. "The whole thing is going to be splendid."

Master Li Yue Feng coached the association's dragon dance team. Yue Feng is a fourth-generation apprentice of Master Huo Yuan Jia, Zhu said. Yuan Jia was a Chinese martial artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s who is widely regarded as a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters during a time when imperialism threatened Chinese sovereignty.

"We have a main, huge, gigantic dragon, and then we have two very cute baby dragons," Zhu said of the dragon dance.

The Fox Theater can seat 1,600 people.

"So far, we already have 1,200 seats taken," Zhu said. Ticket prices range from $13 to $23 but are free for children 12 and younger and adults 70 and older.

For a few hours before the performance, a free-admittance culture fair will be set up in the Fox's lobby area. There will be 20 to 30 booths offering things like face paintings and food samples.

Local artists, including Master Wang Zong Ren, 77, who recently created a painting that was gifted to the City of Spokane of behalf of the Spokane Chinese Association, will be creating Chinese calligraphy paintings on the spot and giving them away to attendees.

Ultimately, Zhu said, the Spokane Chinese Association's Lunar New Year celebration is for the Spokane community.

"We want people to feel the joy, we want people to feel the excitement, we want people to see the beauty of different cultures, and in this case the Chinese culture," she said. "I want everyone to feel the joy of the Lunar New Year."

Roberta Simonson's reporting is part of the Teen Journalism Institute, funded by Bank of America with support from the Innovia Foundation.