Hmong celebrate new year

An array of fragrant foods, colorful coin-bedecked suits and embroidered dresses that jangle loudly, live singing and dancing performances.

That's just some of what greets the senses at the always lively Minnesota Hmong new year celebration, the most highly anticipated event in the Hmong cultural calendar.

Nearly 35,000 people from all over the United States are expected at the 36th annual event being held through the weekend at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in RiverCentre in St. Paul.

The three-day festival, which historically marks the end of the harvest, features traditional foods, clothing, games, reunions, courtship, music and dance.

One of the more unusual activities the festival is known for typically involves teenagers and 20-somethings, who line up in rows -- boys on one side, girls on the other -- and toss a small ball back and forth to each other.

The playful courting ritual is often one of the few chances boys and girls can meet and converse in public, if they happen to have more traditional Hmong parents. It originated in Laos, where many Minnesota Hmong are from.

Pang Yang, 18, and Thong Thao, 20, were tossing a red cloth ball covered in sequins on Friday. The two have been dating for "one year and 22 days," according to Yang, but don't often hang out together in public.

"My parents just don't want us walking around together because they say it wouldn't look good," Yang said. The ball tossing with Thao, however, is an activity her parents do approve of.

Yang and Thao were among the hundreds of festival-goers wearing ornate headpieces and clothes festooned with coins. The coins clinked as they threw the ball back and forth.

"It's fun. And I like to dress up. We enjoy coming to this every year."

Rose French • 612-673-4352