Celebrating Lunar New Year!

I went to the Far East Center at the corner of Alameda and Federal here in Denver yesterday afternoon to see the Lunar New Year celebration. The place was packed, and at first, I was unable to get to the front of the line to see the event taking place, which turned out to be a martial arts demonstration. But after it was over, the crowd dispersed, and pretty soon I saw a group of people carrying lion costumes begin to sit down on the edge of the event space and decided to hang out to see if they were going to perform. Which they soon did, as seen in the photograph on the left. The ceremony began with a long string of fireworks being set off around those lion dancers, which to me was the one negative of standing right in front. This being the first time I have attended this event - which is in its 34th year, I might add - I did not realize that the wide looking tape they were laying down and which I was standing right next to were the actual fireworks.

Some of the events were sponsored by the Denver Police Department, and the Chief of Police spoke to the crowd before the lion dance began. In fact, I was standing right in front of him. He put his hands on both my shoulders and turned me sideways so he could get through to the microphone. Oops! When he finished speaking, he turned around and gave me a look as he passed by, no doubt thinking he might have seen my face in a wanted poster or something. But happily, he took no action. The band for the ceremony, by the way, consisted of drums and cymbals, as seen in the photograph on the right.

I was hoping to see the dragon dancers, but unfortunately, their performance took place earlier in the day. But at least I caught those lion dancers, two of them seen in the photograph on the left. And you might be wondering what the difference is between Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year. I myself did not know, and of course, I checked the most accurate source available - the internet. As everyone says, if you read it on the internet, it must be true. And the answer is that Chinese New Year refers exclusively to only Chinese events and celebrations, while Lunar New Year includes the celebrations and customs of all Asian cultures. Denver, for example, has a large Vietnamese community, which figured prominently in yesterday's festivities.

And yes! This in indeed the Year of the Snake, which I assume is why the woman in the photograph on the right brought an actual snake to the event. Now bringing a dog with you, considering what a warm and sunny day it was, kind of makes sense, although I would think all those fireworks would scare those mutts out their minds, but what do I know? But a snake, that you show around and let people pet? The Year of the Horse follows the Year of the Snake, and so I assume that next year people will bring their horses with them. I'll have to remember to check that out.