Wake Forests’s annual Chinese New Year Festival celebrates ‘Year of the Dog’

Wake Forest University will bring in the year of the dog at its seventh annual Chinese New Year Festival from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 29. The festival, which celebrates the most important holiday for the Chinese, will be held in Reynolds Gymnasium, Room 201 and is free and open to the public.

Chinese New Year Festival

Chinese New Year Festival

The festival is a popular family event that draws more than 700 attendees and features demonstrations, performances and hands-on activities highlighting various aspects of Chinese culture and participants dressed in historical Chinese costumes.

At this year’s festival, participants can make a clay dog and a Chinese zodiac animal sticker, and play traditional children’s games, such as Chinese yo-yo and the chopsticks challenge. Other highlights include performances of the traditional lion dance, martial arts demonstrations and children’s dances. Performances begin at 4:30 p.m.

Authentic Chinese cuisine from Winston-Salem’s Peking Restaurant on Silas Creek Parkway will be available for a small charge.

Wake Forest’s festival was initiated in 2000 by Cristina Yu, a Wake Forest librarian. Students from Wake Forest’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association and Asian Student Interest Association as well as members of the Winston-Salem Chinese American Association volunteer at the festival and participate in various performances.

The Chinese New Year Festival is funded by Wake Forest’s student activity fee.

The 2006 Chinese New Year officially starts with the first new moon of the New Year Jan. 29 and ends on the full moon 15 days later on Feb. 12.

For more information about the festival, call 336-758-5675.

Categories: Arts & Culture, Community, Events