Friday, February 10, 2012

Chinese Lantern Festival in Civic Center



Early Monday evening, there were a host of performing groups celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year and its associated Lantern Festival.



A small stage was set up in front of the illuminated dragon pagoda boat in Civic Center...



...where everything from martial arts experts...



...to various dance troupes from the Bay Area...



...and students from China...



...strutted their stuff...



...and played weird, piercing instruments in a sort of goofy variety show.



The marvelous illuminated dragon boat was actually an import from the "Global Winter Wonderland Festival" held in Santa Clara last December (click here for a look).



According to an organizer I spoke with, the event in Santa Clara was created in China where the Lantern Festival is a huge annual event, and it was supposedly a completely non-governmental affair.



A handful of Falun Gong protestors were not buying the non-government line, though, and came out to announce that Falun Dafa is Good.

2 comments:

Pura Vida said...

Oh lovely lantern ladies. You were born in the Year of the Horse, no? Wiki says Horse – 馬 / 马 (午) (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Cheerful, popular, quick-witted, changeable, earthy, perceptive, talkative, agile, magnetic, intelligent, astute, flexible, and open-minded. Can be fickle, arrogant, childish, anxious, rude, gullible, and stubborn. That's a nice mix.

Civic Center said...

Dear Pura Vida: Yeah, that about sums this Horse up.