ST PAUL, Minn. — Sunday, Dec. 1 marked the first day of the Hmong New Year, and tens of thousands of people in St. Paul celebrated in style.
The annual Hmong New Year festival took place at the RiverCentre in downtown St. Paul and was organized by the United Hmong Family, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and representing Hmong culture.
The two-day celebration broke the attendance record on Saturday, attracting more than 19,000 people, according to United Hmong Family president Mee Vang. She estimated roughly 10,000 people would attend on Sunday.
Forty six years ago, Minnesota's annual Hmong New Year festival started as a way to bring families together, Vang explained. "Blessing the home, sweeping away the old year and then calling all the souls home for many of our family members that have been working or traveling, so that everyone can come together and reunite after the last harvest," she said.
Because of a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, this weekend marked 44 years of the annual festival. It also marked nearly 50 years since the first wave of Hmong people arrived in the United States after the end of the Secret War in 1975.
"I came to America in April of 1976," St. Paul resident Ntxoov Kaim Moua said. "At that time, it was very difficult for us because the language, because the climate, because the cultural differences."
Moua and his family moved from Laos to Thailand then to Wisconsin before settling in Minnesota. He has lived in St. Paul for 12 years. "I would like to have the young people maintain our culture, our traditions and especially the Hmong New Year," Moua said.
With more than 94,000 Hmong residents, Minnesota is now home to one of the largest Hmong communities in the country.
"I love my community here, whether you're Hmong or not Hmong. We just have such a beautiful culture and being able to say that all of these communities, especially marginalized communities, are all Minnesotan," Vang said.