Celebrate Tết, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, 1-4 p.m. Jan. 15 at Eastside Community Center with music, martial arts, a lion dance, a red envelope ceremony, and vegetarian lunch. [cid:image004.jpg@01D92440.0F3AA9F0]Lunar New Year is celebrated by over a billion people globally each year. This year, South Sounders are invited to the Eastside Community Center from 1-4 p.m. Jan. 15 to dance, eat, connect with community, and learn about Vietnamese culture at Tết, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration. The free festival will be in English and Vietnamese. “Tết celebrates the New Year, which also marks the beginning of spring,” explains event organizer Lisa Mathusz. “The yellow flowering apricot tree symbolizes the promise of sweet fruit, and the red envelopes filled with money symbolize seeds of fortune that will grow for the new year.” Some traditions included in the Tết festival are: * The lucky envelope ceremony, where Vietnamese elders bestow lucky money to the youth in their community. * The Kitchen Gods Dance, a traditional Vietnamese theater that celebrates the gods who watch over people every day in our kitchens and report on the good and bad they have seen throughout the year. * A lion dance to bless the space and chase away bad spirits. Those in attendance can feed the lions money from lucky envelopes. * Fruits and incense on the altar, a way to pray to ancestors and a vital part of Tết. Each fruit holds a different meaning. The celebration is hosted by Metro Parks Tacoma and produced by partners Chùa Phước Huệ Buddhist Temple, the Vietnamese American Community Association and Golden Bamboo Senior Vietnamese Women’s Group, supported by Harvest Pierce County. This festival is the first of four community festivals in 2023 that were voted on by community members as part of a participatory budgeting process funded by Tacoma Creates and facilitated by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Festivals coming later this year are Juneteenth, produced by WayOut Kids at Stewart Heights Park; the South Tacoma Heritage Festival, produced by Asia Pacific Cultural Center in August; and Día de los Muertos, produced by Calavera Collective at the Eastside Community Center in October. “Metro Parks is dedicated to supporting authentic cultural celebrations and being an agent that helps bridge gaps in order to unite as a community," said Park Board Commissioner Rosie Ayala. “We are grateful for our partnership with Chùa Phước Huệ Buddhist Temple, the Vietnamese American Community Association, and the Golden Bamboo Senior Vietnamese Women’s Group for making this event possible, and we are thankful to Tacoma Creates for their funding and dedication in the cultural sector.” WHEN: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. January 15, 2023 COST: Free WHERE: Eastside Community Center, 1721 E 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98404 LEARN MORE: https://www.facebook.com/events/526451419021436<https://www.facebook.com/events/526451419021436/?__cft__%5b0%5d=AZUmeccd5ja1RPypWMGrU-M_3NoZu2logcYnBmm-yLYVdSLfvIcUhQ-oxGh6B3DRH4UUIW-Ia4rrdLuGuAnwmktT2CPhwGdX4VxoNt28-zwHv0-o-Jubsq52EhoVJWD6xOj6oUOSZgYnLk4T2Tt_hkrmkOkaTPEYxNc1JtyBWrw5HaGR6xWd9UqYF1QfOGvSHfVebWDVxKu2wwpKOZawXq9L&__tn__=-UK-R> RICO LASTRAPES (he/him) Program Technician, Tacoma Creates Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality 253.591.2038 Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/arts> | Tacoma Creates<http://www.tacomacreates.org/> [LOGO_HORIZONTAL_email]<https://www.tacomacreates.org/>