Hundreds gather at Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum to ring in the Lunar New Year

SEATTLE — A Lunar New 12 months occasion kicked off Saturday in Seattle’s Chinatown Worldwide District.

The Wing Luke Museum welcomed anybody to hitch of their annual occasion, and a whole lot of households got here collectively for a day of performances, music, and custom.

As KIRO 7′s Gwen Baumgardner explains, the current tragedy throughout the Asian-American neighborhood made the celebration bittersweet.

“What they will anticipate is an expertise that may assist carry them again to what New 12 months’s is all about, which is ushering in what’s not working and calling in what we would like. And that’s extra love, extra pleasure,” stated Joël Barraquiel Tan with the Wing Luke Museum.

Love and pleasure in 2023 are a stark distinction from the scenes out of Monterey Park, California, following a Lunar New 12 months celebration solely per week in the past. A gunman opened hearth, killing 11 folks and injuring 9 extra.

Concern throughout the neighborhood stays, stated Devin Cabenella, however so does bravery. “Simply displaying up is a type of being courageous.”

That is an occasion Cabenella appears ahead to every 12 months, however he stated there was a significance to Saturday; an opportunity to show solidarity after an increase in violence towards Asian Individuals lately.

“They do take an emotional toll. I can’t be a part of these incidents immediately or go to California, however I can present up right here and be part of my neighborhood,” stated Cabenella.

Tan agrees. He stated the museum by no means thought of canceling this 12 months’s occasion, even after the tragedies in California.

“No! We don’t cover. We don’t cower in concern,” stated Tan. “We have a good time.”

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