Asian New Year Starts Off With a Lot of Bangs : Thousands Enjoy Fireworks, Festivals and Prayers That Herald the Year of the Rooster

Hundreds of firecrackers erupted thunderously and smoke puffed around the wooden stage as dragons writhed with the drumbeat to the delight of children and adults celebrating the Asian new year, Tet--the Year of the Rooster.

Heads made from papier-mache and covered in colorful paint bobbed up and down while tails fashioned from colored cloths and adorned with rhinestones and ribbons wriggled behind.

Thousands of the festival visitors watched wide-eyed Saturday as the dragons, maneuvered by Westminster High School students, jumped and kicked in order to ward away evil spirits and usher in good luck for the new year.

The dragon dance--which according to Vietnamese custom is exclusively reserved for children-- opened the two-day celebration sponsored by the Union of Vietnamese Students Assn. of Southern California at Golden West College.

“This (festival) is an indication that young children still believe in the Vietnamese culture and that they haven’t forgotten,” said Katie Chau, one of the organizers.

With a work force of volunteers from high schools and colleges around the area, the group put together one of three Tet festivals in Orange County.

Huntington Beach police reported 15,000 people at Golden West College by mid-afternoon Saturday. Festival organizers expect more than 200,000 to attend the three celebrations this weekend and the next. The Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce will sponsor another three-day Tet festival Friday through Sunday in Little Saigon in Westminster.

For the thousands of people at Golden West College and at Santa Ana Stadium, the festivities were a mixture of old and new customs, and of looking forward to the coming year and remembering traditions.

A yellow arch at the Golden West College festival entrance bore new year’s wishes, and a call for young children to reflect on their heritage of Vietnam.

Reflecting didn’t seem like such a hard task when booths offered traditional Vietnamese delicacies such as egg rolls and grilled beef and speakers blasted Vietnamese operas. Hundreds of women donned traditional Vietnamese costumes, ao dai , of colorful silks and embroidered patterns. Young boys showed off their traditional head wear, khan dong , a circle band worn during festivities.

“This is what (people) have left to find their Vietnamese culture,” said Luc Vinh, 20, a member of the Vietnamese Student Assn. at Cal State Long Beach. Vinh spent the day helping his group sell food to raise money for activities.

While the carnival rides, game booths and sweets lured children to different areas, opening ceremonies at center stage brought community leaders and hundreds of festival-goers together in a moment of silence to remember the courage of Vietnamese soldiers and refugees.

The ceremonies began with a military march in which five young men dressed as paratroopers--complete with camouflage, combat boots and maroon felt berets--entered carrying the U.S., South Vietnamese and South Vietnamese army airborne division flags.

The Vietnamese flag salute brought tears to some former soldiers who attended the festival dressed in army uniforms.

“We want to congratulate the students for trying to do something to serve the country, to get freedom and human rights for people in Vietnam,” said Dr. Con Pham, president of the Family of Vietnamese Red Berets and UCLA professor of anesthesiology.

In his speech, Pham emphatically reminded the crowd of the suffering in Vietnam and vowed that “that day will come” when Vietnamese-Americans can return and take back the country. His calls brought cheers and applause from the audience.

Other community leaders focused on the local celebration and festival.

“We are living in America and (the children) can be proud to show the American people what Vietnam is about,” said Westminster City Councilman Tony Lam, the first Vietnamese-born immigrant to be elected to public office in the United States. “This kind of tradition should be maintained year after year so the young people don’t forget their roots.”

Sandwiched between the booths selling Vietnamese delicacies and those offering chances to win huge stuffed animals by popping balloons or downing cans was a table laden with petitions regarding political prisoners in Vietnam. A hand-drawn map of the Southeast Asian country with a list of 538 prisoner names stood starkly in the corner as a young man encouraged fair-goers to join his struggle.

“There’s no freedom of religion, there’s no freedom of the press, there’s no freedom at all there right now,” said Diem Do, 29, a Cypress resident who helped organize the Vietnamese Community Action Group last fall. “Even though I basically grew up here, seeing the human rights violations in Vietnam it really bugs me.”

Sprint, a communications company, offered free three-minute long distance phone calls anywhere in the world.

Many in the lines behind the six telephones at the Sprint booth were waiting to talk with friends and family in Seattle or San Francisco, but Mai Tu called Saigon.

Tu, 43, an Anaheim resident who came to the United States 10 years ago, said she usually talks with her father once every one or two months. The holiday phone call left a bright smile on her face.

“He’s very old and he’s sick,” Tu said of her father. “But today he is OK. Today is New Year’s in my country.”

The festivals at Santa Ana Stadium, put on by the Assn. of Vietnamese Press and Media, and Golden West College will conclude today with concerts, traditional costume contests and martial arts exhibitions.