The Lunar New Year Celebration, one of the major Chinese cultural events of the year in Maine, isn’t affected by the coronavirus outbreak and will go on as planned Saturday.
“Although our organization is concerned for those in China impacted by the coronavirus, it will not affect our local event and all scheduled programs and performances will be going on as planned,” said Jennifer DeCristoforo, president of the Chinese & American Friendship Association of Maine.
While worldwide cases of coronavirus have topped 8,000 – with most in China – there have so far been only six confirmed cases in the United State and none in Maine.
The Lunar New Year celebration will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Westbrook Middle School and Performing Arts Center. The cost is $8 for adults, $6 for children, $30 for a group of five.
Some of the events include:
• Chinese Folk Art Workshop, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., a Boston-area troupe that performs traditional Chinese dance routines.
• Chinese food lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., a Tea workshop and tasting. Michael Connelly of Little Red Cup will feature rare, unusual aged teas.
• During the entire day, those attending can check out the Confucius Institute at the University of Southern Maine, Lion dancers, Chinese crafts and martial arts demonstrations.
• Learn how to read and pronounce Mandarin Chinese characters with Viveca Kwan, from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
• “Wisdom and Stupidity in Early China” a talk about ancient Chinese stories by Jim Behuniak, associate professor of philosophy, Colby College.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less