HAPPY HMONG NEW YEAR! Though the annual event has been on pause for the past couple of years, there are other fun ways to celebrate!

The excitement of running to the stage after hearing the celebratory beat drop and the rush of anticipation in hopes of seeing the year’s best dance routine are familiar feelings for many who have attended previous Eau Claire HMong New Year celebrations. Unfortunately, that stage has been silent for the past three years, with this year’s celebration again absent. 

The Hmong New Year celebration usually happens in early November for the Eau Claire community. Until recently, it was held at the Eau Claire Indoor Sports Center, bringing in thousands of people from around the Chippewa Valley and neighboring communities for a weekend of music, eating, dancing, competitions, and shopping.

There was a lot of anticipation for this year’s event after its hiatus in 2020 and 2021. However, between the pandemic and the restructuring of the Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association over the past year, efforts to find a venue and resources to host such an elaborate event proved unsuccessful.

The news of this year’s celebration being axed took many by surprise this September, but it didn’t stop the community from trying to celebrate. Different organizations from the area hosted their own celebrations in hopes of keeping the tradition alive. 

Preparing for the celebration alone is enough to warrant such passion. From shopping for new HMong outfits to rehearsing a dance routine for hours on end with respective crews, an empowering sense of cultural identity is reinvigorated, and for some, newly formed.

The UWEC Hmong Student Association and the Hmong Stout Student Organization (HSSO) both successfully hosted beautiful gatherings on Nov. 19 and Dec. 3, respectively. The students of Eau Claire North High School’s Hmong American Peem Tsheej Club also got in on the fun with an impressive celebration that rivaled some of the area’s best in past years.

A strong sense of pride was evoked in seeing the efforts from all the Valley’s young folks throwing themselves into efforts to preserve their culture and traditions – and rightfully so. There is so much more to the HMong New Year celebration than meets the eye. 

Preparing for the celebration alone is enough to warrant such passion. From shopping for new HMong outfits to rehearsing a dance routine for hours on end with respective crews, an empowering sense of cultural identity is reinvigorated, and for some, newly formed – something that would have dissipated over time without events like the HMong New Year celebration to keep traditions alive and well.

The community’s yearning for a celebration this year was further amplified by witnessing our neighbors in La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, and St. Paul hosting record-breaking celebrations this year. Some of those events had people waiting in lines for more than an hour just to get in. 

There are, of course, a variety of factors that play into whether or not the Eau Claire HMong New Year celebration will take place in 2023, but in an effort to acknowledge and appreciate the community celebration this year, some community members got together for a photo shoot to reminisce about the Eau Claire Hmong New Year, dressed in their best!

BLIA SCHWAHN • School and Community Liaison for the Eau Claire Area School District

“The Hmong New Year is really time for our families.  I go with my family and you go with yours. We meet our friends there and everybody just hung out.  I miss that opportunity for our community to come together to celebrate a tradition.”

TOU GER “BILLY” LOR • Prominent Wisconsin-based Shaman

“I miss how all the elders would come out because we don’t really see the elders come out. … It was one of the only times when babies, the youth, and elders were all in one place together.” 

TRUE LOR VUE • Executive Director for Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association 

“My favorite memory was when my mom gifted me a pink and gold Hmong dress for the New Year. … I believe I was in eighth  grade. … That was the first time I felt beautiful, like I’ve grown into a woman.”

TOM XIONG • Detective for the Eau Claire Police Department 

“We did some breakdancing way back then – getting together and practicing over and over again to get the routine down, just for the heck of it. That was fun!”

KA VUE • Sexual Assault Program Director, Black and Brown Womyn Power Coalition, Inc.

“I miss the food. Trying to pick out which place had the best meat or papaya salad … and just sitting down with all of my family in one place to eat.”