Asian people brought their culture and celebrations to the melting pot that is America when they arrived on these shores. One of the most important celebrations in Asian culture is the Lunar New Year. With Lunar Fest, I introduce western people to traditional Asian activities, and also help Vietnamese parents educate their American-born children about their roots, to help maintain a connection to their culture of origin.
Artist/Thesis Statement
While Western civilization tracks date and time based on the movement of the sun, people from the Eastern countries use the moon instead. That is why many Eastern countries have their own New Year festival called Lunar New Year. In Vietnam, the Lunar New Year is a very important festival in which a huge number of people participate.
For Asian people, Lunar New Year is a very important event of the year. People believe that if everything goes well at the beginning of the year, good luck will come for the rest of the year. if something goes wrong, the whole year will be ruined with bad luck. Therefore, a huge amount of preparation is involved in the Lunar New Year celebration. One of the most iconic traditions is giving each other lucky pockets. A lucky pocket is a red envelope with a small amount of money inside as good luck for the New Year.
As an Asian American immigrant, it is very important for me to inherit this tradition and keep passing it on to the next generation. Therefore, through my Luna Fest project, I want to introduce the Lunar New Year festival to many foreigners as well as the generations after me. Luna Fest includes a website and a mobile application. It will allow users to customize and order red envelopes. It also helps family members to send the lucky envelopes along with good greetings to each other from over the world.
