Printer Friendly Version - GHS Hosts Chinese New Year Celebration with Food, Festivities

The Greater New Haven Chinese Community will again hold its Chinese New Year Gala at the Guilford High School. Last year’s celebration included this performance by the Village Kids Dance Troop. File photo by Susan Lambert/The Courier

Though many people have already put the festivities and pageantry of the holiday season behind them, Guilford is about to host one of the world’s most celebrated holidays, as Guilford High School (GHS) stages a Chinese New Year party this Sunday, Jan. 19.

(NOTE: The event date has been moved from its original Saturday, Jan. 18 scedule due to weather concerns.)

Chinese New Year celebrations can spread across multiple weeks, full of tradition and merrymaking, bringing families together for food, fellowship, games, dancing, and more, according to Jing Zhang, who is helping organize the event.

“Let me put it this way: I think of the Chinese New Year celebration as combination of your Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Zhang said.

This is the fourth year that GHS has hosted a celebration of Chinese New Year, Zhang said. The event is organized by The Greater New Haven Chinese Community. Though students at Yale and various Chinese schools (something like Sunday school for children of Chinese descent) hold their own celebrations, Zhang said Guilford’s is notable in the greater New Haven and shoreline area.

The GHS celebration will offer everything from traditional dancing and performances from more than 100 artists along with a potluck, games and activities for children, and the traditional hongbao, or red envelopes containing money that Chinese families gift to members of the younger generation.

“Traditionally, we have traditional Chinese dancing...the kids perform. It’s really very diverse,” Zhang said.

Past iterations of the even have included board games like Go, along with more interactive fun like ring tosses. Zhang said this year’s event will also include a calligraphy station, allowing attendees to practice and learn about the traditional Chinese writing method.

Though Zhang said that the celebration is certainly meant to appeal to those residents of Chinese descent, many of whom grew up with massive country-wide celebrations for the holiday and are familiar with the traditions, he said anyone is invited to participate.

The red envelopes, which are ubiquitous in China, are a particularly fun way to introduce kids to some of the holiday’s traditions, Zhang said

Zhang said that organizers have also used the event as a food drive for the Guilford Food Bank, encouraging people to join in the universal holiday spirit of giving back, something he said has been “very successful.”

This year, Zhang said they also expect to have Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, the child of Chinese immigrants and the first state attorney general of Chinese descent in the country, at the event.

Every year, though, Zhang said he and the other organizers have been extremely happy for the chance to celebrate the holiday at GHS, and in the past have hosted more than 500 people.

“It’s a combination of family reunion—you always go back home,” Zhang said, “and also a celebration of the new year.”

Because of the high level of interests, those residents interested in attending are asked to register in advance; find a link with this story at Zip06.com. Activities and sharing of food begins around 1 p.m., and performances are scheduled to start around 3 p.m. More information is available by emailingGreaterNHChinese@gmail.com.