Spring Festival Feb. 8 at Fresno State observes Chinese New Year — 'Year of the Dog'

Visuals: The Fresno State Lion Dance Club will perform the traditional Lion Dance at 6:40 p.m. and a calligraphy display will be set up as well as lanterns and table decorations.

The Spring Festival Annual Party — a celebration of Chinese New Year’s and other cultures that follow the Lunar calendar — will be held Wednesday, Feb. 8, at California State University, Fresno.

Hosted by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, the event is a potluck celebration from 6 to 8 p.m. in Kremen Bldg. Room 140. The Fresno State Lion Dance Club will perform the traditional Lion Dance at 6:40 p.m. and a calligraphy display will be set up. The celebration is open to the public

The event was begun in 1995 as a Chinese New Year’s Celebration organized by then-visiting professors Dr. Bing Lin and Dr. Zhiling Yang from Beijing, said Dr. Susan Schlievert, event coordinator and professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department of Kremen School.

Lin and Yang taught student teachers, Tai Chi, and calligraphy classes at Fresno State. Being away from their homeland and their families, they invited their students to celebrate the Lunar New Year with them. They also invited friends from the community, along with international students from across campus.

As a standard part of the celebration, the Tai Chi class put on a demonstration and the calligraphy class projects were displayed. The calligraphy class projects are still used today. Schlievert also said lanterns and table decorations denoting prosperity will be set up.

When Lin and Yang retired and returned to China, faculty members in the Kremen School established the Spring Festival as an annual event with its new name and a commitment to include other cultures.

The first day of the Chinese New Year 4073 — the Year of the Dog — was January 29. Parking is available at no charge in Lot C at Maple and Shaw Avenues.

Wednesday’s Festival is sponsored by the Kremen School Faculty and Staff Assembly, the International Committee, Continuing and Global Education and the Office of the Dean.

For more information: 559.278.0210.

(Copy by University Communications student-intern Megan Jacobsen.)