Lantern Festival | Photo by Monica Brutto | The Wright Guardian
The Asian Student Association at Wright State University recently hosted celebrations and activities open to all students for the lantern festival.
Lunar New Year background information
During the 15 days of Lunar New Year, a variety of Asian countries such as China, Singapore and Korea hold celebrations. The celebrations at WSU focus on Asian cuisine, red money envelopes, dragon dances and lantern decorations, in the words of Ryan Diaz, the president of the Asian Student Association.
“Lantern festival is the last day of the Lunar New Year celebrations. This may involve floating lanterns that are set alight into the air or round lanterns on the end of sticks, but it’s a good way to end the holidays with lots of fun,” Diaz said.
Due to restrictions, ASA can not light lanterns, so instead the organization presented the opportunity for students to decorate personal lanterns, according to Diaz.
Diaz also provided information on what the lanterns signify in Asian culture: the red and gold colors of the lanterns symbolize prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year.
“You put a wish in the lantern before releasing it into the sky, so it signifies your wishes coming true as well as a prosperous year,” Ayumi Enorme, the ASA event planner, said.
Meaning of the event
Other ASA members expressed why ASA held the celebration event.
“It is extra special here in Ohio in the sense that Asian families here are usually more widespread and also influenced by other cultures and U.S. norms,” Sierra Hinton, the vice president of ASA, said.
Diaz explained the lantern festival aimed to give back to the WSU community as well as give awareness to Asian culture. Despite the Lunar New Year being a short celebrating experience, ASA plans to give back to WSU students.
“We still plan to host more events this semester and try to touch on as many cultures as we can,” Hinton said.
For more information on ASA and upcoming events, visit the organization’s Engage page or email Diaz.
