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Zimo Xie

ALL ARE WELCOME. The crowd in Driscoll filled every table. "We've been planning this for a while. And, we just wanted to have some big event because normally we socialize, which is nice, but I think it's good to have certain goals to achieve and also school-wide things, not just containing things within ASA," ASA co-leader Claire Kim said.

It’s not every day that students can walk around Driscoll trying foods they’ve never even heard of before. The Lunar New Year food festival hosted by the Asian Student Alliance on Jan. 23 was just that.

Lunar New Year is a traditional holiday celebrated by many different Asian countries. It was initially observed in China to celebrate the harvest season and worship the agriculture gods. Over time, the holiday spread to other East and Southeastern Asian countries, and now it is one of the most important and celebrated holidays in those countries.

To bring the celebration to SPA, the Asian Student Alliance hosted a Lunar New Year food and cultural festival for the upper school community.

People walked around the tables at the festival, trying out new foods and socializing with others. Tri-fold boards were also posted, introducing the foods at tables and the different countries’ cultures. Some foods included dumplings, rice cakes, and sago, along with Asian snacks and candies. The event was packed, for students and faculty filled Driscoll from the beginning to clean up.

This Lunar New Year celebration was the first time ASA had organized an all-school event, which was a big step forward for the affinity group.

“We wanted to use this [Lunar New Year] as an opportunity to spread awareness and let the school know about the Asian community and ASA,” co-leader of ASA Rita Li said, “I feel like a lot of people tried different foods and realized that Asian cuisine isn’t just orange chicken and Panda Express.”

Another reason they wanted to host the festival was that they were inspired by the school-wide Cinco de Mayo celebration last year.

The co-leaders also wanted to host this big event to add purpose, variety, and bonding opportunities to their weekly meet-ups.

“We’ve been planning this for a while. And, we just wanted to have some big event because normally we socialize, which is nice, but I think it’s good to have certain goals to achieve and also school-wide things, not just containing things within ASA,” co-leader Claire Kim said.

During their weekly meet-ups before the event, students who volunteered split into groups representing their own countries and decided on what foods to prepare.

“I think people had fun decorating boards and preparing foods,” Kim said.

To take some burden off the volunteers, the affinity group requested funds from the Upper School Council, which paid for the decorations. ASA also plans to use some funds to reimburse members who brought food.

This past year, ASA has seen significant growth due to the rising population of Asian students. Looking ahead, the affinity group wants to represent more Asian countries and ethnic groups.

“Lunar New Year’s a very East-Asian-centered holiday, so hopefully, in the future, we can celebrate different important dates and other Asian regions, not just within East Asia,” Kim said.

The Lunar New Year food festival marks the first of big celebrations hosted by the Asian Student Alliance.