Tradition, food and fun at Hmong New Year in Merced

Some wore jackets and ties and others were dressed in traditional attire – clothes covered in stitching and lined with jangling coins – for the beginning of Hmong New Year celebrations in Merced on Friday.

Festivities at the Merced County Fairgrounds are scheduled to continue throughout the weekend, featuring dance, music, food and games. The events are organized by Merced Lao Family Community Inc.

After the opening ceremony, people passed through an archway that read “Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab” – Hmong for “Happy New Year.”

Koua Yang, the group’s vice president, said the new year celebration is the most significant time of the year for Hmong. “It is so important for the Hmong community,” he said. “We only celebrate once a year, and this is a tradition that’s been going for centuries.”

Depending on their age and marital status, Yang said, the people come to the festivities for different reasons. The event is known to attract Hmong from out of the area and out of state.

The older generation comes to see friends and family, while young people are looking to have fun and maybe meet a new boyfriend or girlfriend. To that end, young people often play a game of catch called “pov pob,” a custom during which young men and women interact.

Yang said the celebration also helps to connect the youngest generations, who grew up in the U.S., with their cultural practices and traditions.

An estimated 6,000 to 8,000 Hmong call Merced home, he said, which makes it the third largest population in the state, behind Sacramento and Fresno.

The opening day was full of pomp and circumstance.

Mayor Stan Thurston and Chong Vang, the son of Gen. Vang Pao, shared ceremonial shots of brandy before releasing balloons and cutting a ribbon to signify the start of the events.

“We do recognize this community as being a very important community in Merced with its rich heritage,” Thurston said during the ceremonies. “We don’t forget the difficulties that you had, those that came here from internment camps.”

The Hmong people are originally from the mountains of Laos, China, Vietnam and Thailand. They were recruited by the CIA to fight during the Vietnam War, and many emigrated as war refugees after the United States left the region and the communists took over Laos in the 1970s.

A key U.S. ally during the Vietnam War and revered as a father figure by many in the community, Vang Pao helped many Hmong people settle in America. He died in 2011.

The opening had its moments of mourning, as when the room fell silent in remembrance of the general, but it was mostly a time of celebration. Beauty pageants, music and dances are planned throughout the weekend.

For Jer Thao of Merced, the festival is something he looks forward to all year. “No. 1 is the food,” the 26-year-old said. “For some reason, the food over here during Hmong New Year – it tastes so good.”

But, beyond the Hmong sausage, sticky rice, papaya salad and many other dishes, the festivities are like a family reunion. “You get to see people you haven’t seen for years,” said Pa Yang, 23, of Fresno.

A party atmosphere will be prevalent Saturday as locals welcome out-of-town visitors, organizers said. The festival continues through Sunday.

There is a $3 fee to enter the fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

This story was originally published December 19, 2014 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Tradition, food and fun at Hmong New Year in Merced."