Merced’s Hmong New Year celebrations about to begin

Hmong New Year, the most important time of the year for Hmong people, is set to begin Friday in Merced, according to organizers.

The opening ceremony is 11 a.m. Friday at the Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The ceremonies typically include a few words from leaders, a ritual drink of alcohol and a ribbon cutting before scores of people pass through an arch marked “Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab” – the Hmong words for “Happy New Year.”

Merced Lao Family Community Inc. organizes the event every year and thousands of visitors come from out of the area. Executive Director Houa Vang said the celebration is the biggest one of the year for Hmong.

“It’s almost like Christmastime,” he said. “It’s so important for the Hmong.”

The first day of celebrations includes cultural dance, beauty pageants and sporting events. Vang said Mayor Stan Thurston and Chong Vang, the son of Gen. Vang Pao, are expected to take part in the ceremonies and give some remarks. The general, who died in 2011, was a key U.S. ally during the Vietnam War and was revered as a father figure by many in the community. He helped many Hmong people settle in the United States.

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

The Hmong people originally are 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 communists took over Laos in the 1970s.

Ma Vang, a UC Merced professor, said this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Hmong people’s exodus from Laos.

She echoed the importance of the holiday for Hmong. Many families will hold more traditional and religious celebrations at home, she said, but the larger event at the fairground is meant to bring in the rest of the community.

“(Families) wash away all the misfortunes of this year and welcome the new year,” she said, “and wish for new hopes for the new year.”

Hmong communities in different cities tend to stagger their celebration dates to avoid interfering with one another. She said Oroville, Chico and Sacramento have already held events, and Fresno plans one later this month.

Vang said it’s important for visitors to note how Hmong culture is evolving. “It’s a celebration of history and culture,” she said. “Especially in the U.S. context, it showcases a lot of changes within the Hmong community.”

Visitors in Merced can expect to see traditional Hmong clothing covered in jangling coins and intricate stitching, dance performances, players of a flutelike instrument called a “qeej” and sellers of traditional cuisine.

Other activities will pepper all three days, including modern sports and more traditional games. Planned are “kator,” a game involving a net and a woven wooden ball, and “tuj lub,” in which players try to knock over competitors’ spinning tops.

“Pov pob” will also be on display throughout the weekend. The tradition gives young men and women a chance to interact by throwing a ball back and forth.

Fans of Hmong cuisine can expect papaya salad, sticky rice, Hmong sausage, boba drinks and smoked meats, among other foods.

For more on the events, call Merced Lao Family Community Inc. at 209-384-7384 or email mlfc@laofamilymerced.org.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Merced’s Hmong New Year celebrations about to begin."