Seattle Center Festal Hosts Hmong New Year Celebration 11/6
Seattle Center Festál: Hmong New Year Celebration, Saturday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., in Center House, helps to preserve the unique traditions of this Southesast Asian highland culture that originates in the mountains of China, Laos and Thailand. Dance, traditional music, historical exhibits and the customary courtship ritural of ball tossing demonstrate this culture"s compelling legacy.
The Lunar New Year is a time to welcome the prosperity of the coming year and the passing of the previous year. This year's celebration features:
New Breed, a young and upcoming band from California, who has performed at various New Years throughout the country.
Toucer and his band from North Carolina performing with guest singer Yee Khang.
The famous Hmong actor Nuj Nplaib (Kue Lee), who is known for his leading role in many Hmong movies.
Ntxhais Thaj Yeeb cultural dancers from California. They have competed in several competitions in that state, taking 1st place at the Fresno Hmong International New Year.
The festival features a special exhibit in the Harrison Gallery by Hmong artist SeeXeng Lee of Minnesota. SeeXeng is an art teacher at Minneapolis South High School. He strives to preserve the Hmong culture through his art while inspiring the youth to identify what is Hmong. He will also give a lecture in Center House Conference Room H.
The 22 Festál cultural celebrations highlight The Common forms of tradition and expression among ethnic communities in the Pacific Northwest, while underscoring their unique creative contributions, customs, foods and ideals. Our 2010 "did you know" explore some of these commonalities and differences.
Seattle Center Festál: Hmong New Year Celebration is presented by Seattle Center in partnership with the Hmong Association of Washington. For a full event schedule, visit www.hmongassociationofwa.org, and for more information on this cultural series and other Seattle Center programming, click on www.seattlecenter.com/festal or call 206 684-7200.
About Seattle Center Festál
Seattle Center Festál, a series of 22 world festivals presented at Seattle Center on weekends throughout 2010, highlights the distinct cultures and common threads of ethnic communities in our region through traditional and contemporary art, music, foods, youth activities, workshops and more. This collection of cultural events is produced with the generous support of Wells Fargo, Verizon Wireless and KUOW 94.9 Public Radio. Additional support is provided by Seattle Center Foundation and the City of Seattle.
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