Lunar New Year 2026 begins Tuesday, Feb. 17, and ushers in the Year of the Horse — specifically the Fire Horse which said symbolizes energy, speed and freedom and passion and transformation.
“Lunar New Year is celebrated to mark the beginning of the new year in the lunar calendar,” said Tobey Yu of the UAFS Vietnamese Student Association said. “It’s typically celebrated in February with no concrete date, unlike western calendars celebrating New Years on Jan. 1 every year.”
At Friday’s event, Yu said attendees can expect exciting performances, traditional games to earn raffle tickets for prizes themed after animals in the Zodiac, and local food options – all at no cost.
“Many of the Asian countries celebrate Lunar New Year but each one has different variations on how they celebrate, customs, and traditions,” Yu said. “For example, in Vietnam, Bánh chưng (a savory rice cake made from glutinous rice, mung beans, and pork) is typically eaten, while in China, dumplings are eaten as the traditional food during the holiday.”
Yu said hosting the event on campus is a chance to share students’ cultures with the entire community.
“It is important to share and celebrate these traditions with other students, faculty, staff, and the community simply just to teach others about the types of communities that make up Fort Smith,” Yu said.
“I hope attendees for the event can take away some knowledge on an incredibly important holiday for Asian cultures and communities, and be able to recognize that those communities are right here in the very town that we all live in,” Yu said. “And lastly I just hope all attendees just have a good time at our event and continue to support our organization as we could not do the things we do without our student members and the general public.”
For Yu, planning and sharing the celebration is a highlight of the year.
“What I enjoy the most about Lunar New Year is just being able to put in the time and effort to plan this event with my officers and seeing everything come together for a good event,” Yu said. “Being able to talk to the attendees about their thoughts of the event and hearing them say that they’ve enjoyed it or are enjoying it and seeing a whole community together to celebrate one event we have in the year.”
