The chilly winter wind shook the branches of greater than a dozen shiny pink and pink cherry blossoms, synthetic timber created by volunteers to embellish a Metropolis Heights park on Sunday morning, the primary day of the Lunar New 12 months.
The tree branches contained dozens of nameless needs for the brand new yr, written in black marker on rectangular sheets of paper.
A lot of the needs requested for well being, wealth and peace. Others had needs for “discovering myself”, “an excellent job that lasts”, “wholesome relationships”, “a greater life for me and my household”, and “freedom”.
Lots of of households flocked to the Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park for the third day of the 13th Lunar New 12 months Competition. The occasion was organized by the Little Saigon Basis, which has labored to help the Little Saigon buying district in Metropolis Heights since 2008.
Lunar New 12 months, which is predicated on the time of the brand new moon, is a revered custom for a lot of Asian international locations and Asian American communities. Competition goers wrote needs, obtained oracle readings, ate avenue meals and extra to have a good time and ask for good luck, well being and peace for the approaching yr.
However these hopes for peace have been rapidly dampened by the early morning information that 10 individuals had been shot to dying at a dance studio the evening earlier than in Monterey Park, an east Los Angeles suburb that’s predominantly Asian-American.
San Diego police mentioned there have been no identified threats in San Diego, however mentioned they elevated their presence at native Lunar New 12 months occasions Sunday in mild of the taking pictures.
Oanh Tran spends time together with her granddaughter Ellie Sy at a show on the Lunar New 12 months Competition in Metropolis Heights on Sunday.
(KC Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Su Nguyen, occasion coordinator for the pageant and founding father of the Little Saigon Basis, mentioned he wasn’t nervous concerning the pageant, however his coronary heart “melts” after listening to concerning the taking pictures.
The taking pictures was extra than simply the lack of life, Nguyen mentioned: it was a blow to your entire Asian group, contemplating the day the shooter selected.
“Once I first came upon, I assumed, ‘Why today?’ We need to have a good time, however how are we going to have a good time with that unhealthy information? Nguyen mentioned.
Nonetheless, the mass taking pictures didn’t seem to discourage massive crowds from attending Sunday, and avenue parking was full for blocks across the pageant.
The scent of steaming pork buns and coconut pandan waffles wafted by the air as children and adults alike ate grilled calamari on a stick, prawn spring rolls and mango sticky rice. Youngsters ran round on the jungle gymnasium playground whereas different households watched musical performances and took photos. A number of households have been wearing shiny pink, blue, pink or purple ao dai, the standard Vietnamese silk gown worn for Lunar New 12 months.
Sisters Caly and Nyny Tran drove over an hour from Lake Forest to attend the pageant.
To arrange for the brand new yr, the sisters cleaned their home the evening earlier than and showered: it is unhealthy luck to brush the flooring, take out the trash, or wash your hair on Lunar New 12 months’s Day as a result of it symbolizes throwing away or washing away wealth. . Each New 12 months the household eats banh tet, a Vietnamese dish consisting of sticky rice with pork and mung beans wrapped in banana leaves.
“It is an opportunity to reset,” mentioned Nyny Tran.
Proceeds from this yr’s pageant and former years’ festivals will go towards constructing a mini-park on El Cajon Boulevard close to Chamoune Avenue, to be known as the Boat Folks Backyard. The park is necessary as a result of it will likely be the primary landmark Little Saigon can name its personal, Nguyen mentioned.
For the “boatmen,” Nguyen mentioned, the backyard will honor lots of of 1000’s of immigrants who fought and sacrificed whereas coming to and residing in the USA, together with Vietnamese refugees who started arriving within the 1970s. He mentioned it’s going to honor the immigrants who could not get right here as a result of they perished at sea, in addition to the dad and mom who introduced their kids right here for a greater life.