Ruby Szekeres Photos.
People of all ages gathered around the tree, writing down their wishes for the Lunar New Year on green paper leaves. Some wished for another year with their family and friends. Others imagined a new year filled with good luck. Others still tried to picture wealth in their future. In gold, they wrote down their hopes and desires, using string to hang them alongside red paper lanterns and round, bright orange baubles onto the wish tree.
Those hopes filled the New Haven Museum (NHM) Saturday afternoon, as New Haven rang in the Year of the Wood Snake at the city’s 14th annual Lunarfest celebration. A collaboration among the Yale-China Association, Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven Museum, Hong Kong Market, New Haven Free Public Library, AAPI New Haven, City of New Haven and others, the festival celebrated the breadth of Lunar New Year, with particular attention to Chinese customs and traditions.
The wood snake represents wisdom and personal growth. It marks the sixth animal in the 12-creature Chinese zodiac and the first of five elements (together, they include wood, fire, earth, metal, and water).
Katie Matuska: “Trying new things and learning more about different cultures is not only important but fun as well."
“New Haven has such a big celebration and it is great to be a part of it,” said Peter Lau, a student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and participant in the Yale University-New Asia Undergraduate Exchange Program (YUNA). Saturday, he had come as a volunteer, excited to help out with fellow exchange students. He was especially excited to see the decorations and how many people came to enjoy the festivities, he said.
Across the museum, there were multiple activities, including the traditional Chinese Art of paper cutting, a lantern workshop, chance to contribute to the wishing tree and Wushu, Tai Chi and Qigong demonstrations.
At the paper cutting workshop, attendees chose from four different patterns: a flower, a lantern, two birds and a Chinese character (囍) meaning “double happiness” in Mandarin and used in Cantonese as well. Once they had their red paper with the design, they carefully folded it in half and cut away at it until they were left with their final piece.
As she worked on cutting out a red lantern, first-time Lunarfest attendee Katie Matuska said she was delighted to be at the event. Looking for something to fill her Saturday, Matuska had found Lunarfest and decided to come. “Trying new things and learning more about different cultures is not only important but fun as well,” she said. She added that she already planned to return for the 15th annual celebration next year.
Upstairs in the ballroom, apprentices from the Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop held a lantern making workshop, showing attendees how to create lanterns with all 12 Chinese zodiac animals on four sides. As apprentice Dev Talwalkar passed out pre-assembled kits, attendees got to work, figuring out how to put them together with glue and decorative markers.
For those who did not want to make a lantern, there were also kits for a dragon-shaped contraption with wheels holding a chicken sized egg.
Children and adults both had fun putting together the wooden contraptions. While some worked at tables, others found room along the floor.
“It really feels great to see all of these people together and happy,” said apprentice Will Iafrate, who has been with the Eli Whitney Museum for two years. He added that Saturday marked his first time helping out with Lunarfest.
Others praised the New Haven Museum as providing a place to learn about the Lunar New Year, which unfolds for two weeks across Asia. Madeline, who was there with her boyfriend Jarrett, had discovered it when looking for events to attend for her multicultural project for school (both declined to give their last names).
She said that her favorite part of the day had been the morning’s Lion Dance parade, which included performances from several dance troupes and students at the Wu Dang Kung Fu Academy
“Immersing yourself in different cultures really makes you think hard about all of the different things they do compared to your own,” she said.
This article comes from the 2024 Cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. Ruby Szekeres is a sophomore at the Sound School.