Longmont Chinese New Year event draws big, vibrant crowd

Dana Cadey, Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colo.
·2 min read

Feb. 4—The Year of the Rabbit was eagerly ushered in during Saturday's Chinese Lunar New Year celebration at Silver Creek High School in Longmont.

Presented by the Asian-Pacific Association of Longmont, this year marks the 11th iteration of the festival and the first time it's been held in person since 2020. The event drew over 2,000 people, who completely filled the SCHS gym for the opening performances.

A-PAL Vice President Xiao Zhang said the turnout was more than expected, especially after two years of holding a scaled-down online version of the event.

"It's a good achievement," Zhang said. "After the long pandemic, we can come back live again."

Zhang said A-PAL might start calling the event the Lunar New Year celebration in the future in order to be more inclusive of other Asian cultures. A-PAL has also tried to make the event more interactive through hands-on activity booths.

"We try to make people from different cultural backgrounds understand each other," Zhang said. "That's the reason we try to bring our Asian culture to this community."

Longmont city councilmember Tim Waters attended the celebration alongside Mayor Joan Peck, who said this year represents hope, love, kindness and charity.

"Hope is exactly what we need right now," Peck told the crowd.

A colorful, elaborate lion dance performed by Boulder's Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Association began the celebration, followed by the first performance of the year for percussion group Denver Taiko. In addition to several other musical performances, guests could participate in cultural games and activities like brush painting and Chinese name translations.

The event was hosted by the Silver Creek Leadership Academy, a four-year leadership program for SCHS students. SCLA Program Director Carrie Adams said that of the roughly 175 volunteers who lent a hand Saturday, most were from SCLA.

Otis Halleygotway, a junior and SCLA member, helped run an origami booth Saturday after learning about the activity and its cultural significance from A-PAL committee member Jane Lim. Halleygotway said he attended the celebrations when he was younger and had fun supporting the event from the other side this year.

"It was really helpful to know not just how to fold the origami but how to help teach other people," he said. "It was cool to hear directly from the source about what it all means."

Adams said she loved seeing the student volunteers connect with community leaders and receive mentorship from A-PAL.

"A respect of other cultures — that's the key," she said. "That's what we really want the kids to understand. We can't be leaders if we can't have some empathy."