People gathered to watch a yellow and purple lion puppet dance on stage to the beat of a drum and cymbal Saturday night, symbolizing good fortune in Vietnamese culture.
Smells of fried rice and sounds of flute music filled the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom as the Vietnamese Student Organization and about 300 guests celebrated the annual Tet Lunar New Year program in honor of the Vietnamese New Year.
This year, a modern American fashion show was added to the lineup, featuring designs by one of the organization’s officers.
The show also featured traditional and modern dances, skits and a traditional Vietnamese gown fashion show.
Guests received a free meal of fried rice, Vietnamese chicken salad and egg rolls while waiting for the show to begin.
“We were really excited to showcase our culture even more,” said Ann Hoang, the organization’s president. “The most important thing is to spread our culture to those who are unaware of what it is like.”
Amanda Le, an interior design graduate student, said the celebration deepened her connection to her roots.
“As a Vietnamese-American, tonight helped me to go back and learn about my culture,” she said. “It’s really important we keep up the tradition.”
Part of the show featured “Choostyle,” designs made by one of the organization’s members, Chieu Ho. The UF sophomore designed and sewed each of the nine outfits worn by the models.
Freshman William Yang said this was his first year not celebrating with his family because they are overseas. He said celebrating the holiday at the event instead of with family was not necessarily a bad thing.
“I’m used to celebrating with my family, but the people I’ve met here are my family, Yang said.”
