Hundreds of people turned out for a Chinese New Year festival in Nashua Sunday.
The event kicked off with a traditional lion dance, as performers in two-person lion costumes — one yellow, one red — shimmied through the crowd at the Westwood Park YMCA. The costumed lion dance was just one of the traditions on display, along with food, games and crafts like making paper lanterns.
Wei Lin is with the Chinese Culture Society of Greater Nashua, which organized this event. She has fond memories of Lunar New Year celebrations from growing up and is glad her own children can now see traditions like the lion dance.
“This is the place most of us call home, and we have children here, and we want to raise the children to know their Chinese heritage,” Lin said. “And also, we want to reach out to the broader community to extend the tradition and culture, which we are really proud of.”
She says this event has gotten bigger in each of the three years they’ve been holding it.
Daphne Yan of Bedford was busy overseeing trays of fried rice, lo mein, and dumplings. She was one of about 50 volunteers who made the event happen. She says it gives people a little taste of home.
“Everyone here, in another country from their homeland, they can also enjoy the same culture that their families do from home,” Yan said.