New Year’s Day is weeks past, horns and fluted glasses gone the way of Christmas lights and baubles. But for those of Asian heritage, a glorious celebrate awaits – Asian New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
The festival falls on the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, which is based on the cycles of the moon’s phases. Thus, unlike the Western world’s New Year’s, Asian New Year falls on a different day each year.
This year, Asian New Year is on Monday, February 1. The joyous celebration lasts for 15 days, ending with the first full moon in a Lantern Festival. Each new year is assigned an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. This year, 2022, is the Year of the Tiger.
The origins of Asian New Year stretch back to more than 4,000 years ago, when early peoples celebrated the end of long, cold winters and rejoiced in the coming of spring. Today, as in ancient times, Asian New Year is a time for everyone to joyously gather with family and friends.
Aswirl with pageantry, Asian New Year is marked by colorful traditions including sumptuous meals, red and gold decorative garlands and lanterns, gifts of mandarin oranges for good luck and red envelopes filled with money. Firecrackers and a thrilling dragon dance add to the festivities.
Celebrate Asian New Year at the library, Saturday, January 29, 10:30 a.m.
It is the Year of the Tiger, and you will roar with delight at the thrilling performance by the Chinese Culture Performance Association of San Antonio, Chinese Folk Dancers. Clad in precious silks, the dancers will twirl their fans in beautifully patterned dances to mesmerizing music unlike any in the occidental tradition.
Now comprised of an orchestra, dance troupe and choir, the Chinese Culture Performance Association of San Antonio began in 1998 as a fledgling trio of musicians. The mission of the association is to introduce and promote Chinese culture to American people through its performances. Members perform in the Greater San Antonio and Hill Country area, sharing their artistry at nursing homes, schools, colleges, universities and cultural festivals.
According to member Jerry Jin, the association is “getting more and more popular for bringing Chinese art, music, and culture to the community, and the performances are deeply loved by the audience.”
Bonus: Come at 10 a.m. for a special dragon dance performance by Yaping Zhang’s San Antonio Chinese Alliance before the main event.
Miss Valentine Storytime at Herff Farm, Saturday, February 5, 10 a.m.
Come to the beautiful Herff Farm House (33 Herff Road) and enjoy storytime with Miss Valentine. This sweetheart of a storytime will feature a fun story, tunes, craft and holiday tasty treaties.
We thank the Cibolo Conservation Center and Herff Farm for their partnership with our library.
Radio Storytime: Early Bird Time!
Tune in to Boerne Radio (KBRN FM 103.9) for a weekly Saturday storytime at a new early bird time of 7:45 a.m. Enjoy a dramatic reading of a quality story suitable for the whole family. This storytime is generously sponsored by Mathnasium of Boerne
We are most grateful to Boerne Radio and Mathnasium of Boerne for this opportunity to bring the wonder of literature to the community.
Staying informed
You can contact us at 830-249-3053 or visit our website at www.boernelibrary.org. Email us at librarian@boernelibrary. org. Track us down on Facebook, where you can like the library, or Boerne Library Children’s Corner. You can also follow us on Instagram.
To maintain your library account, go to www.boernelibrary.org and click on “My Account.”
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