EDMONDS, Wash. — Saturday, the city of Edmonds held its first official city-sanctioned Lunar New Year celebration, organized by community members and business owners.
The celebration spurred from a discussion among members of the Edmonds Diversity Commission about the importance of representation in city-recognized holiday celebrations.
"The city of Edmonds decided to create this really wonderful event to involve all of Edmonds and the Asian culture that exists within," said committee member Shubert Ho. "It's really important to just represent what the community has to offer and who lives in this community. We know Seattle, the greater Seattle area, has a huge Asian population, and we're here to provide the festivities and an open space for everybody to congregate."
Events included an online-based Lunar New Year Storytime, Lion Dance performances and Kung Fu demonstrations, a free community movie and local art.
"We've had some feedback from the community that they would like to see some other events and some good representation of everyone in our community," Nikki Okimoto Glaros said. "It was just really wonderful to see the community show up, and I just want to wish everybody a happy Lunar New Year."
It was a chance to celebrate as a community and raise awareness of the different cultures present in Edmonds.
"Edmonds has a great Asian culture and a huge area on Highway 99 where we have tons of Asian eateries and businesses that exist, it's been a mainstay of Edmonds for a long time and I think it's great we're finally starting to celebrate Lunar New Year," Ho said.
To learn more about the event, click here.