Ellen Min, Sten Hartman, and their daughters stand at one of the Chinatown gates.
At the beginning of last year, Ellen Min, her family and fellow members of the Harrisburg Asian American Pacific Islander (HAAPI) community carpooled to Philadelphia to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
While there, they meandered the city’s Chinatown, ate a traditional 10-course Chinese meal, attended a Chinese opera, and waded through hundreds of people parading and dancing throughout the streets—gleefully garbed in vibrant reds, yellows and greens.
“I remember one HAAPI member who was adopted from China actually shared with me that they felt like part of their soul came alive as they experienced and explored parts of their culture for the first time during Lunar New Year,” Min said.
Afterwards, while gathered around the table for dinner, the group asked themselves a question: “Why don’t we have things like this in Harrisburg—events that celebrate our traditions and cultures?” Min said. “And we couldn’t come up with a good answer.”
While the Lunar New Year’s travels remain a fond memory for Min, she returned home with an energized ambition not to have to travel for the Year of the Dragon in 2024. A grant from the Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC) kickstarted her Lunar New Year planning, followed by a generous offer from the downtown Harrisburg theater company, Open Stage, which agreed to open its space for the celebration.
“We’re privileged to be able to have the space and to share it,” said Stuart Landon, Open Stage’s producing artistic director. “I think it’s all of our responsibilities to create space for organizations like HAAPI.”
HAAPI’s inaugural Lunar New Year celebration will take place the evening of Feb. 10, and Min is encouraging guests to try out local AAPI restaurants in the area prior—arriving with full stomachs and open minds.
Staying true to the roots of HAAPI, which Min and a friend founded in 2021 to serve as a safe space for the local AAPI community to convene, promote visibility and combat stereotypes through cross-cultural knowledge sharing, the celebration will be an engaging educational experience.
Attendees will get a glimpse into east and south Asian culture through performances by Harrisburg Acehnese Girls, the Selahart Group, Sunshine Dance Club and individuals from the Chinese Culture & Arts Institute.
“The more we are authentically engaged with each other’s cultures, the more we can raise global citizens who are kind to others who don’t look and live like us,” Min said. “This is especially true for the AAPI population, which is the fastest growing population in the U.S., region and the state of Pennsylvania.”
Starting small-scale for 2024, Min hopes to rally excitement among AAPI community members, local businesses and allies—coming together to create an event in future years that rivals larger cities, in its own way.
“I hope they outgrow us, and I don’t mean that in a negative way,” Landon said. “I mean that in the most positive way possible.”
He means that this event could serve as a springboard for future success so that the group migrates to even larger venues in the coming years.
“The Lunar New Year celebration is going to be a great way to see beautiful cultural performances and learn about the AAPI community that exists in our own backyard in Harrisburg,” Min said.
HAAPI’s Lunar New Year celebration takes place Saturday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m., at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For tickets, visit www.openstagehbg.com/tickets.
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